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U  N  I  VLR.S  ITY 
or  ILLINOIS 

\2:)OQ> 


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MACMILLAN'S    STANDARD  LIBRARY 


RENAISSANCE  AND 
MODERN  ART 

« 


9 


LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITV  OF  iLLlNOiS 
URBANA 


RENAISSANCE 


AND 


MODERN  ART 


BY 

W.  H.  GOODYEAR,  M.A. 

CURATOR  OF  FINE  ARTS  IN  THE  MUSEUM   OF  THE  BROOKLYN 
INSTITUTE 

AUTHOR  OF  "A  HISTORY  OF  ART,"  "THE  GRAMMAR  OF 
THE  LOTUS,"  "  ROMAN  AND  MEDIEVAL 
ART,"  ETC. 


WITH  MANY  ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW  YORK 
GROSSET   &  DUNLAP 
PUBLISHERS 


COPVRIGHT,  1894, 

By  flood  &  VINCENT. 


First  published  elsewhere. 
Reprinted  February,  1900;  June,  1901; 
May,  1902;  June,  1904;  February,  1906. 


Berwick  &  Smith,  Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


'  (ji^ivERSiTY  or  mm\^ — 


PREFACE. 


The  first  wish  of  the  student,  who  has  been  introduced 
to  a  new  and  important  field  of  study  by  means  of  a  sum- 
mary and  closely  condensed  compendium,  is  to  know  of 
I  ^  the  books  which  may  supplement  and  enlarge  his  field  of 
^^view,  which  may  supply  him  with  a  larger  number  of  facts 
-<;^alDout  it,  and  bring  him  nearer  to  the  individual  lives  and 
V  historic  details  which  the  space  available  for  a  summary 
compendium  is  insufficient  to  include.    Not  the  least  im- 
portant matter  of  this  work  will  therefore,  be  the  hints  here 
'•^and  there  scattered  through  it  as  to  such  further  source  of  in- 
formation.    The  '^Suggestions  in  Aid  of  Reading,"  which 
>  I  have  compiled  for  the  special  course  in  Art  History  of  the 
^Chautauqua  Literary  and  Scientific  Circle,  would  furnish  a 
.^number  of  additional  references,  among  which  historical 
:  ^  works,  as  distinct  from  those  specially  devoted  to  art,  have 
;^received  considerable  attention.    The  English  author  who 
^has  made  a  specialty  of  the  historic  Renaissance  is  Sy- 
^monds.    Jacob  Burckhardt's     Civilization  of  the  Renais- 
Jsance,"  translated  from  the  German  by  Middlemore,  is  a 
:^pithier,  more  philosophical,  and  much  shorter  work.  I 
M  should  not  wish  to  urge  its  use  to  the  exclusion  of  Symonds, 
vbut  no  serious  student  can  afford  to  forego  the  knowledge 
-  of  it.    It  may  be  said  in  general  that  the  wider  one's 
.-^  .knowledge  of  history  and  literature,  the  more  interesting 
>  does  the  art  of  the  Renaissance  become;  and,  conversely, 
yj  that  there  is  no  better  introduction  to  the  study  of  modern 
'•  history  and  modern  literature  at  large  than  the  study  of  this 
^  art.    Of  all  histories  of  English  Literature,  Taine' s  is  the  one 


iii 


I  1 62674 


iv 


Preface, 


which  keeps  closest  in  touch  with  the  point  of  view  which 
recognizes  Renaissance  Italy  as  the  main  source  of  modern 
culture,  while  Ranke's  histories,  especially  his  History  of 
the  Popes  and  his  History  of  England,"  are  the  best 
general  reference  for  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  cen- 
turies at  large.  Fiske's  ''Discovery  of  America,"  and 
Campbell's  ''Puritan  in  Holland,  England,  and  America," 
are  the  books  best  calculated  to  bring  our  own  American 
history  into  line  with  that  of  continental  Europe.  I  have 
mentioned  these  various  books  from  the  conviction  that  the 
only  true  philosophy  of  modern  history  is  that  which  moves 
from  the  Renaissance  as  its  elementary  basis,  that  the  study 
of  Renaissance  art  is  the  best  approach  to  Renaissance 
history,  and  that  the  best  supplementary  reading  is  that  of 
the  historians  whose  point  of  view  is  the  largest  and  most 
comprehensive. 

I  have  to  make  acknowledgment  in  this  preface  to  the 
persons  whose  kindness  has  enabled  me  to  illustrate  the 
works  of  recent  American  and  recent  foreign  artists. 
Among  these  I  must  specialize,  first,  the  American  painters 
and  sculptors  who  have  allowed  me  to  publish  their  works, 
and  the  various  owners  of  the  same.  Mr.  Henry  T.  Chap- 
man, Jr.,  of  Brooklyn,  has  allowed  me  to  publish  several 
of  his  precious  possessions.  Prof  Halsey  C.  Ives,  chief  of 
the  Art  Palace  at  the  Columbian  Exposition,  was  good 
enough  to  give  me  carte  blanche  in  his  department,  subject 
to  the  permission  of  the  artists  and  owners  concerned. 
Finally,  I  have  to  thank  Mrs.  Mabel  Rolfe,  of  Cambridge, 
Mass. ,  for  her  goodness  and  cleverness  in  the  matter  of  the 
photographs  taken  at  Chicago.  The  pictures  for  my  frontis- 
piece and  for  all  American  paintings  published  were  taken 
by  her,  as  well  as  the  pictures  of  Thornycroft' s  Teucer  and 
Rodin's  Andromeda. 


CONTENTS. 

Chapter.  Page. 

I.    The  Renaissance  Period. — Limits  of 
the    Renaissance    Period. — The  Term 
Defined        .....  15 
II.    Contemporaneous  History     .       .  19 

III.  Position  of  Art  in  the  Italian  Re- 

naissance   27 

IV.  History  of  Italy  Since  the  Renais- 

sance, AS  Explaining  the  Decline 
OF  Italian  Art     ....  33 
V.    Divisions  of  Renaissance  Periods  and 

Style         .....  39 
VI.    The  Traits  of  Renaissance  Architec- 
ture  42 

VII.    Philosophy  of  Renaissance  Archi- 
tecture     .       .       .       .       .  54 
VIII.    Renaissance  Architecture  in  Theory 

AND  IN  Practice    ....  61 
IX.    Criticism  of  Renaissance  Architec- 
ture   64 

X.  Historic  Sketch  of  Fifteenth  Cen- 
tury Renaissance  Architecture  72 
XI.  Historic  Sketch  of  Sixteenth  Cen- 
tury Renaissance  Architecture  86 
XII.  Decadence  of  Renaissance  Architec- 
ture, Seventeenth  and  Eighteenth 
Centuries  97 

XIII.  Relation  of  Painting  to  Other  Arts 

OF  the  Renaissance         .       .  107 

XIV.  Fifteenth     Century  Renaissance 

Painting  iii 

V 


vi 


Contents. 


Chapter.  Page. 

XV.    Philosophy  of  the   Perfection  of 

Italian  Painting     .       .       .  125 
XVI.    Leonardo  da  Vinci        .       .  .132 
XVII.    Raphael  Santi  of  Urbino    .       .  139 
XVIII.    Michael  Angelo  Buonarroti         .  150 

XIX.      CORREGGIO  AND  TiTIAN  .  .  1 59 

XX.    Seventeenth  Century  Renaissance 

Painting  170 

XXL    Sixteenth    Century    German  and 

Flemish    Painting    .       .       .  183 
XXII.    Seventeenth  Century  Dutch  Paint- 
ing  187 

XXIII.  Renaissance  Sculpture. — Relations  to 

Modern  History    ....  196 

XXIV.  Early  Renaissance  Sculpture. — Crit- 

ical Review      .       .       .       .  .199 

XXV.    Early  Renaissance  Sculpture. — His- 
toric Sketch         ....  205 

XXVI.    Renaissance  .  Sculpture. — Philosophy 

of  its  Decline  .        .        .        .  218 

XXVII.    Renaissance  Sculpture. — Michael  An- 
gelo    .       .       .       .       .       .  222 

XXVIII.    Renaissance  Sculpture. — Later  Styles 

and  Decadence         .        .        .  .229 

XXIX.    The  Greek  Revival  of  the  Eigh- 
teenth Century       .       .       .  240 
XXX.    Architecture    of  the  Nineteenth 

Century  250 

XXXL    Sculpture  of  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury  256 

XXXII.    English  and  French  Painting. — Eigh- 
teenth and  Nineteenth  Centuries       .  272 
XXXIII.    Recent  American  Art        .       .  292 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Samson,  by  Elihu  Vedder  Frontispiece, 

Figure.  Page. 

1.  Late  French  Renaissance  Carved  and  Gilded 

Wooden  Chest  and  Table   i6 

2.  Armor  of  Christian  IT.  of  Denmark.  Italian 

Renaissance  Ornamentation   20 

3.  Tomb  of  the  Children  of  Charles  VIII.    Tours  21 

4.  German  Renaissance  Fowling  Pieces   23 

5.  French  Renaissance  Bellows   24 

6.  Renaissance  Italian   silver-gilt  Wine  Pitcher. 

School  of  Benvenuto  Cellini   25 

7.  Wrought-iron  Standard-holder  on  the  Strozzi 

Palace,  Florence.    By  Caprarra   28 

8.  Carved  wooden  Trousseau  Chest,  supporting 

the  Roman  Wolf.    Early  Italian  Renaissance  29 

9.  Italian  Renaissance  Bronze  Gates  in  Venice  .   .  31 

10.  French  Renaissance  Doorway  at  Frejus  ....  36 

1 1 .  Room  in  the  Chateau  of  Oyron   43 

12.  Renaissance  pediment,  entablature,  and  ''en- 

gaged'* columns.     Equitable  Building,  New 
York   46 

13.  Brownstone  Front.    New  York   47 

14.  French  Renaissance  Detail,  House  of  Agnes 

Sorel,  Orleans   48 

15.  So-called  Temple  of  Saturn,  Rome,  and  Arch 

of  Septimius  Severus   50 

16.  Renaissance  Villa  near  Vicenza,  by  Palladio  .   .  51 

17.  Temple  of  St.   Peter,  in  the  Cloister  of  S. 

Pietro  in  Montorio,  Rome.    By  Bramante  .  52 

18.  Early  French  Renaissance  ''engaged"  classic 

columns.  Chateau  d'Usson   55 

19.  Renaissance  Fifteenth  Century  Decorative  De- 

tails, borrowed  from  Greco- Roman   ....  59 

vii 


viii  List  of  Illustrations. 


Figure,  Page. 

20.  French   Renaissance   pediment  and  entablature. 

Hotel  Colbert,  Paris   62 

21.  Early   French    Renaissance    "engaged"  classic 

columns.    Viviers   63 

22.  Architectural    Renaissance    Details    framing  a 

Madonna  Relief,  by  Mino  da  Fiesole    ....  65 

23.  Early  French  Renaissance  engaged  columns  and 

entablature.     Church  at  Gisors   66 

24.  Ancient  Roman  Ruin.    Theater  of  Marcellus  •  .  67 

25.  Cathedral  of  Versailles.    Eighteenth  Century   .  .  69 

26.  Palace  Poli,  and  Fountain  of  Trevi,  Rome  ...  71 

27.  Church  of  San  Lorenzo,  Florence.     By  Brunel- 

lesco,  1425  .  ,   ,   73 

28.  Church  of  San  Spirito,  Florence.    After  the  de- 

sign of  Brunellesco   74 

29.  Church  of  the  Annunciation.     Genoa  ...  75 

30.  Doorway  of  the  Cloister  of  Santa  Croce,  Flor- 

ence.   By  Brunellesco   77 

31.  Window  Pediment  of  the  Doge's  Palace.  Ven- 

ice.   By  Pietro  Lombardo   78 

32.  Early  Renaissance  Capital.    Venice   79 

33.  Ornament  from  the  Tomb  of  Gaston  de  Foix  80 

34.  French  Renaissance  Wood-carving   81 

35.  Court  of  the  Ducal  Palace  at  Urbino   82 

36.  Palace  Rucellai.    Florence.    By  Alberti  ...  83 

37.  Pitti  Palace,  by  Brunellesco.     Florence.    .   .  84 

38.  Strozzi  Palace,  by  Benedetto  da  Majano  ...  85 

39.  Arcade  and  Court  of  Palace  Massimi.    Rome  86 

40.  Cancellaria  Palace,  Rome.   By  Bramante  ...  87 

41.  Court  of  the  Church  of  Santa  Maria  della  Pace  88 

42.  St.  Peter's  Church.    Rome.    Interior  ....  89 

43.  St.  Peter's  Church.    Rome.    Exterior  ...  90 

44.  Court  of  the  Palace  Massimi.    Rome    ....  91 

45.  Palace  Bartolini.    Florence   92 

46.  Second    Story,  Court  of  the  Farnese  Palace  93 

47.  Palace  Marcantonio  Tiene,  by  Palladio.  Vi- 

cenza   95 

48.  French  Doorway.    Villeneuve-les- Avignon  .   .  97 

49.  French  Doorway.    Villeneuve-les-Avignon  .   .  98 


List  of  Illustrations.  ix 


Figure.                                             ^                                ^  Page. 

50.  French  Doorway.    Villenenve-les-Avignon  .   .  99 

51.  Cathedral  of  Murcia.    Spanish  Renaissance  .  100 

52.  St.  Mary's   College.     Oxford   loi 

53.  St.  Etienne   du    Mont.    Paris   102 

54.  St.   Paul's  Cathedral.    London   103 

55.  House  in  Leyden.    Dutch  Renaissance  ....  104 

56.  Town  Hall  of  Leyden.      Dutch  Renaissance  105 

57.  Ceiling  of  a  Room  in  the  "Chateau  of  Oyron, 

with  Mythologic  Paintings   108 

58.  Loggie  or  Corridor  of  the  Vatican   109 

59.  Detail  from  the  Raising  of  Eutychus.  Masaccio. 

Brancacci  Chapel,  Florence   113 

60.  St.  Paul  Visiting  St.  Peter  in  Prison.  Design 

by  Masaccio   116 

61.  Christ  Giving   the    Keys   to  Peter.  Fresco 

by  Perugino.    Sistine  Chapel,  Rome  ...  117 

62.  Detail  from  the  Fresco  of  Peter  and  Paul  Heal- 

ing the  Sick  and  Lame.    Probably  by  Ma- 
saccio.   Brancacci  Chapel,  Florence  ....  120 

63.  Detail  from  the  Framing  of  a  Madonna.  Era 

Angelico.    Uflfizi  Gallery,  Florence  ....  121 

64.  Meeting  of  Mary  and  Elizabeth.    Ghirlandajo  122 

65.  Detail  from  the  Series  of  Paintings  by  Carpac- 

cio  for  the  Story  of  St.  Ursula   123 

66.  Detail  of  a  Madonna,  by  Filippo  Lippi  ...  125 

67.  Virgin  Adoring  the   Infant  Savior.  Lorenzo 

di  Credi.    London   126 

68.  The  Virgin  and  Child  with  two  Saints.  Peru- 

gino.   London   127 

69.  Martyrdom  of  St.  Sebastian.    Pollajuolo  ...  128 

70.  Portrait  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci.    Uffizi  Gallery.  132 

71.  La  Gioconda.     Portrait  by  Da  Vinci  ....  133 

72.  The  Virgin  and  St.  Anne.    Da  Vinci.    Louvre  134 

73.  The  Last  Supper.    Da  Vinci.     Milan.   .   .   .  136 

74.  Fresco  by  Luini  at  Lugano   138 

75.  House  in  Urbino  where  Raphael  was  born  .   .  139 

76.  The  Camera  della  Segnatura  in  the  Vatican  .   .  140- 


77.  Plato  and  Aristotle.     From  the  ''School  of 

Athens."    Vatican.    By  Raphael   141 


X 


List  of  Illustrations. 


Figure.  Page. 

78.  Apollo,    Detail  of  the  ^  ^  Parnassus/ '  by  Ra- 

phael.   Vatican   142 

79.  Detail  from  the     Jurisprudence/'  by  Raphael.  143 

80.  Detail  of  the  ''Madonna  in  the  Meadow,"  by 

Raphael.    Vienna.  .  '   144 

81.  Detail  from  the  Betrothal  of  Mary  and  Joseph, 

by  Raphael.    Milan   145 

82.  Detail  of  the  Portrait  of  Angiolo  Doni,  by  Ra- 

phael.   Pitti  Palace   146 

83.  Portrait  of  Maddalena  Doni,  by  Raphael.  .   .   .  147 

84.  Detail  of  the  ''Transfiguration,"  by  Raphael.  148 

85.  Bust  of  Michael  Angelo,  dating  1570   150 

86.  Creation  of  the  Sun  and  Moon.   Detail  from  the 

Ceiling  of  the  Sistine  Chapel   151 

87.  Detail  from  the  Series  representing  the  Fore- 

fathers of  Christ.    Sistine  Chapel  Ceiling  .   .  152 

88.  The  Sistine  Chapel.    Vatican  Palace   154 

89.  Detail  from  the  Last  Judgment,  by  Michael 

Angelo   156 

90.  Decorative  Figure,  Sistine  Chapel  Ceiling.  ...  157 

91.  Detail  from  Correggio's  Virgin  Adoring  the  In- 

fant Savior.    Uffizi  Gallery.    Florence  ...  1 59 

92.  Christ  Appears  to  Mary  Magdalen  after  the 

Resurrection.    Correggio.    Madrid  ....  160 

93.  Hall  of  the  Grand  Council,  Doge's  Palace  .  .  162 

94.  Detail  from  Titian's  Portrait  of  "La  Bella." 

Pitti  Palace,  Florence   163 

95.  Detail  from  Titian's  Assumption  of  the  Virgin. 

Venice  Academy   164 

96.  St.  Bridget  offering  Flowers  to  the  Infant  Sa- 

vior.   Titian.     Madrid   165 

97.  Detail  from  Titian' s  Presentation  of  the  Virgin. 

Venice  Academy   1 66 

98.  Portrait  by  Palma  Vecchio.    Vienna   167 

99.  Detail  from  the  Feast  in  the  House  of  Levi,  by 

Paul  Veronese.    Venice  Academy   168 

100.  Portrait  of  Henrietta  of  France,  Queen  of  Charles 

I.  of  England.    Van  Dyck.    Pitti  Palace.  .  .  170 

101.  The  Dead  Savior.    Van  Dyck.    Antwerp.  ,  ,  171 


List  of  Illustrations.  xi 


Figure.                                        ^                          ^  Page. 

1 02.  Jacob's  Ladder.    Ribera.    Madrid   172 

103.  Portrait  of  the  Dwarf  El  Primo.    Velasquez.  .  173 

104.  The  Divine  Shepherd.     Murillo.    Madrid.  .   .  174 

105.  Detail  from  a  Holy  Family,  by  Rubens  ....  176 

106.  Madonna,  by  Guido  Reni.     Uffizi  Gallery.  .   .  177 

107.  The  Annunciation.    Sassoferrato.    Louvre.   .  178 

108.  Saint  Cecilia.    Sassoferrato   179 

109.  Detail  from  Diana's  Chase.  Domenichino.  .  .  180 
no.  Portrait  of  Lucas  Baumgartner.    Albert  Diirer.  182 

111.  Woodcut  by  Albert  Diirer   184 

112.  The  Flagellation.    Woodcut  by  Albert  Diirer  .  185 

113.  Portrait  of  Hans  Holbein,  by  himself   186 

114.  Franz  van  Mieris.    Portrait  of  the  Artist  and 

his  Wife.   The  Hague   187 

115.  Cattle.    Paul  Potter.    The  Hague   188 

116.  The  Anatomy  Lesson.  Rembrandt.  The  Hague  189 

117.  Banquet  of  the  Officers  of  the  Archers'  Corps  of 

St.  Adrian.   Franz  Hals.    Haarlem  ....  190 

118.  Portrait.    Rembrandt.    Amsterdam   191 

119.  The  Doctor's  Visit.    Jan  Steen.    The  Hague  .  192 

120.  Dutch  Landscape.    Ruisdael.   Amsterdam.   .  193 

121.  Tavern  Scene.     David  Teniers  the  Younger.  .  194 

122.  Swathed  Infant,  by  Andrea  della  Robbia  .   .   .  199 

123.  Equestrian  Statue  of  Gattamelata.    By  Dona- 

tello.    Padua   200 

1 24.  Christ  Healing  the  Sick.    By  Andrea  and  Luca 

della  Robbia.    Florence   201 

125.  The  Annunciation.    Relief  in  Enameled  Terra 

Cotta.     By  Andrea  della  Robbia.     Prato.  202 

126.  Lunette  in  Enameled  Terra  Cotta.    By  Luca 

della  Robbia.    Madonna  and  Child   203 

127.  The  Baptistery  of  Florence  .   .    •   205 

128.  Christ  and  the  Money  Changers.    Bronze  Relief 

Panel,  by  Ghiberti   206 

1 29.  Christ  and  Peter  Walking  on  the  Water.  Bronze 

Relief  Panel,  by  Ghiberti   207 

130.  Design  for  a  Bronze  Door  Panel,  by  Briinellesco.  208 

131.  Design  for  a  Bronze  Door  Panel,  by  Ghiberti.  209 

132.  Bronze  Doors,  by  Ghiberti.    Florence.   ...  210 


xii 


List  of  Illustrations. 


Figure.          ^  Page. 

133.  The  Story  of  Jacob  and  Esau,  by  Ghiberti.  .   .  211 

1 34.  Sacrifice  of  Isaac.    Abraham  and  the  Angels. 

Hagar  and  Ishmael,  by  Ghiberti   212 

135.  The  Story  of  Joseph,  by  Ghiberti   213 

136.  Decorative   Details   from  the  second  pair  of 

Bronze  Doors  by  Ghiberti                          .  214 

137.  Equestrian  Statue  of  Colleoni,  by  Verocchio.  .  215 

138.  Bust  of  Nicolo  da  Uzzano,  by  Donatello  ...  215 

139.  Marble  Shrine  Relief  of  the  Madonna  and  Child 

in  Vienna.    Florentine  Work   216 

140.  St.  George,  by  Donatello.    Florence   218 

141.  David,  by  Verocchio.    Florence   219 

142.  David,  by  Donatello.    Florence   220 

143.  Detail  of  the  David,  by  Michael  Angelo  .  .   .   .  222 

144.  Moses,  by  Michael  Angelo.    Rome   223 

145.  Detail  of  the  Tomb  of  Lorenzo  Medici  ....  224 

146.  Tomb  of  Lorenzo  Medici.    Florence   225 

147.  Allegorical  Figure  of  the  Day  from  the  Tomb  of 

Giuliano  Medici,  by  Michael  Angelo  ....  226 

148.  Captive,  by  Michael  Angelo.    Louvre  ....  227 

149.  Perseus,  by  Benvenuto  CelHni.    Florence.  .   .  229 

1 50.  Figures  from  the  Reliefs  of  the  Fountain  of 

the  Innocents,  by  Jean  Goujon   230 

151.  Mary  of  Burgundy.  Maximilian's  Tomb  at  Inn- 

spruck   231 

152.  King  Arthur.   Bronze;  by  Peter  Vischer.  From 

the  Maximilian  Monument  at  Innspruck  .   .  232 

153.  Wood-carved  Confessionals  at  Antwerp  .   .   .  233 

154.  ^neas  and  Anchises,  by  Bernini   234 

155.  Pulpit  of  the  Brussels  Cathedral   235 

156.  The  Escape  from  Error,  by  Queirolo.    Naples.  236 

157.  Prometheus,  by  Adam.  Louvre   237 

158.  Statue  of  Louis  XV.,  by  Nicolas  Coustou  .   .  238 

159.  Portrait  of  Col.  Epes  Sargent,  by  John  Single- 

ton Copley   241 

160.  Ganymede,  by  Thorwaldsen.    Copenhagen  .   .  246 

161.  Detail  of  the  Perseus,  by  Canova.    Vatican  .  247 

162.  The  Angel  of  Death.    Detail  of  the  Tomb  of 

Clement  XIII.,  in  St.  Peter's.   By  Canova  .  248 


List  of  Illustrations.  xiii 


Figure.  Page. 

163.  Houses  of  Parliament,  London.    By  Barry  .   .  252 

164.  Courthouse  and  Jail  of  Pittsburg,  by  H.  H. 

Richardson.     Romanesque  Revival  ....  254 

165.  Teucer,  by  Hamo  Thornycroft   256 

166.  Bronze   Equestrian  Statue   of  Frederick  the 

Great,  by  Ranch.    Berlin   257 

167.  Andromeda.    Design  for  the  Gates  of  Hell. 

(Dante's  Inferno.)    By  Rodin   258 

168.  Cast  of  a  Lion,  by  Barye.    Trocadero  Museum.  259 

169.  Teucer,  by  Hamo  Thornycroft   261 

170.  Bronze  Group.     Charles  Dickens  and  Little 

Nell,  by  F.  Edwin  Elwell   263 

171.  Bronze  Statue  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher.  Brook- 

lyn.   By  J.  Q.  A.  Ward   264 

172.  Bronze  Statue  of  Hamilton,   Brooklyn.  By 

William  Ordway  Partridge   265 

173.  Landscape  Group,  by  E.  C.  Potter  and  Daniel 

C.  French.    Columbian  Exposition  ....  266 

174.  Statue  of  the  Republic,  by  Daniel  C.  French  .  267 

175.  Sea  Horses.     Detail  from  the  Fountain,  by 

MacMonnies.    Columbian  Exposition  .   .   .  267 

176.  Mounted  Indian,  by  Proctor.    Columbian  Ex- 

position  268 

177.  Aerial  Navigation,  by  John  J.  Boyle.  Trans- 

portation Building,  Columbian  Exposition  .  269 

178.  Bronze  Statue  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  by  Augus- 

tus St.  Gaudens.    Lincoln  Park,  Chicago  .  270 

179.  Boy  Fighting,  by  Gainsborough   273 

180.  Landscape,  by  Diaz   274 

181.  Peasant  Woman,  by  Millet   275 

182.  Landscape,  by  Corot   276 

183.  Landscape,  by  Claude  Lorrain   278 

184.  Landscape,  by  Homer  Martin   279 

185.  Maine  Coast  in  Winter,  by  Winslow  Homer  .  280 

186.  Labor,  by  J.  F.  Millet   284 

187.  A  Great  Gale,  by  Winslow  Homer   285 

188.  Sailors,  Take  Warning,"  by  Winslow  Homer  286 

189.  Greek  Girls  Playing  at  Ball,  by  Sir  Frederick 

Leighton   287 


xiv 


List  of  Illustrations, 


Figure.  Page. 

190.  Love  and  Death,  by  George  F.  Watts  ....  288 

191.  Reading  from  Homer,  by  Alma-Tadema  .   .   .  289 

192.  Sea  Nymph,  by  Burne-Jones   290 

193.  The  Young  Marsyas,  by  EHhu  Vedder  .   .   .   .  291 

194.  Design  for  an  Illustration  of  Browning's  ^'Men 

and  Women,''  ^'Childe  Roland  to  the  Dark 

Tower  Came."    By  John  La  Farge  .   .  .  .  292 

195.  Portrait,  by  J.  S.  Sargent  •    .   .  293 

196.  The  Lair  of  the  Sea  Serpent,  by  Elihu  Vedder.  294 

197.  The  Deserted  Inn,  by  Wordsworth  Thompson  .  296 

198.  The  Sculptor  and  the  King,  by  George  de 

Forest  Brush   297 

199.  Christ  and  the  Fishermen,  by  F.  V.  Du  Mond  298 

200.  ''Got  Him,"  by  Henry  F.  Farny   299 

201.  An  Impromptu  Affair  in  the  Days  of  ''The 

Code,"  by  Frederick  James   300 

202.  The  Fisherman  and  the  Geni.    From  "The 

Arabian  Nights."    By  Elihu  Vedder  .   .   .  302 

203.  Delilah,  by  Elihu  Vedder   303 


The  engravings  of  pictures  reproduced  from  photographs  made  by  the  special 
permission  of  artists  and  owners  for  this  book  are  protected  by  copyright. 


RENAISSANCE  AND  MODERN  ART. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  RENAISSANCE  PERIOD. 

Limits  of  the  Renaissance  Period. 

The  period  covered  by  the  title  of  my  book  has  had  a 
duration  of  about  five  hundred  years.  The  Renaissance 
had  fairly  begun  in  the  early  part  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
and  from  the  standpoint  of  general  history  the  beginning  of 
the  Renaissance  was  the  beginning  of  modern  times.  In  a 
broad  and  general  sense  this  period  cannot  be  considered 
to  have  ended  yet.  Modern  civilization  dates  from  the 
Renaissance  and  was  created  by  it. 

This  broadest  and  largest  fact  about  the  Renaissance  is 
best  explained,  proven,  and  illustrated  through  the  history 
of  art. 

It  therefore  holds,  in  a  large  sense,  that  Renaissance  art 
must  also  be  conceived  as  still  continuing.  It  is  especially, 
however,  in  architecture  and  in  ornament  that  the  proof 
and  illustration  of  this  fact  can  be  most  definitely  given. 
In  sculpture  and  in  painting,  although  the  relations  and 
connections  of  modern  art  with  its  Renaissance  origins  are 
perfectly  definite  and  perfectly  continuous,  they  are  not  so 
immediately  obvious  without  research. 

On  the  other  hand  there  are  uses  of  the  term  Renaissance 

15 


i6 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


in  which,  both  for  history  in  a  general  sense  and  for  the 
history  of  art  in  a  special  sense,  it  must  be  considered  as 
having  long  since  ended.  It  seems  then  proper  at  the 
outset  of  this  little  book,  to  indicate  the  various  senses  in 
which  this  word  may  be  legitimately  used  as  regards  limits 
of  time  and  period  ;  observing,  at  the  same  time,  that 
whenever  we  feel  disposed  to  restrict  the  sense  of  the  term, 
we  have  still  chosen  a  title  for  our  book  which  is  perfectly 
explicit.  The  period  to  be  covered  began  about  1400  A. 
D.  and  has  not  ended.  No  one  can  deny  that  modern  art 
and  history  began  about  this  time.  Whenever  the  Renais- 
sance may  have  ended, 
there  is  no  doubt  as  to 
when  it  began.  Our 
title,  therefore,  covers 
the  ground  in  any 
case. 

A  discussion  about 
words  is  never  useless 
when  it  tends  to  bring 
out  facts.  The  fact  to 
be  indicated  then  is 
this:  that  in  some 
senses  the  term  *  *  Re- 
naissance, ' '  either  in 
art  or  history,  specially 
applies  to  Italy  in  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
centuries,  and  to  the 
obvious  and  palpable 
influence  of  Italy  on 
foreign  countries  at 
this  time.     This  is  the  special  and  generally  recognized  use 


Fig.  I. — Late  French  Renaissance  Carved  and 
Gilded  Wooden  Chest  and  Table. 
At  Moyenmoutier. 


The  Renaissance  Period, 


17 


of  the  term.  Although  no  one  can  deny  that  the  seven- 
teenth century  continued  to  exhibit  and  spread  this  influ- 
ence, the  term  is  not  so  generally  understood  as  applying 
to  a  period  of  history  when  the  seventeenth  century  is  in 
question.  Still  less  would  the  eighteenth  century  be  con- 
sidered to  come  within  the  limits  of  the  period,  according 
to  the  usual  acceptance  of  historic  divisions.  On  the  other 
hand  the  history  of  art  during  the  seventeenth  and  eigh- 
teenth centuries  enables  us  to  prove  without  the  least  diffi- 
culty that  the  same  historic  influences  are  really  always  in 
question. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  first  distinct  break  with  these 
Italian  traditions  in  taste,  literature,  and  art,  occurred  in  the 
latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  even  then  it  is 
only  in  a  narrow  and  limited  sense  that  they  can  be  said  to 
have  ended. 

The  Term  Defined. 

What  was  the  Renaissance  ?  According  to  a  literal  ren- 
dering of  the  word,  which  is  French  for  rebirth,"  it 
was  a  rebirth  of  civilization,  of  literature,  and  of  art,  and 
according  to  universal  acceptance  the  word  relates  to  Italy  ; 
for  we  never  speak  of  the  English,  French,  German,  or 
Spanish  Renaissance,  without  the  implication  that  Italy  was 
the  original  home,  center,  and  inspiration  of  the  movement. 

But  rebirth'*  implies  that  something  had  ceased  to 
exist  which  once  existed.  The  word  therefore  implies  two 
preceding  periods  as  well  as  its  own.  It  implies  a  preced- 
ing 3eriod  which  was  reborn,  and  it  implies  an  intervening 
period  of  cessation,  a  gap  or  chasm  between  that  period 
and  itself.  The  word  Renaissance  therefore  carries  with 
itself  a  conception  of  the  Middle  Age  as  this  intervening 
period,  and  a  conception  of  itself  as  a  rebirth  of  the  civili- 


1 8  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


zation  of  the  Roman  Empire.  These  were  the  conceptions 
of  the  ItaHans  of  the  Renaissance. 

Now,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  civiUzation  is  never  reborn;  it 
continues — ^with  changes.  Nothing  could  be  more  differ- 
ent, as  a  matter  of  fact,  than  was  the  civiHzation  of  Italy  in 
the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  from  the  civilization  of 
ancient  Rome.  But  this  matter-of-fact  distinction  escaped 
the  perception  of  the  Italians  themselves.  They  believed 
themselves  to  be  reviving  the  civilization  of  the  past,  when 
they  were  in  reality  only  learning  from  it.  This  belief 
colored  their  language,  their  literature,  their  daily  life,  and, 
therefore,  their  art. 

In  the  character  of  the  period  we  shall  therefore  gradu- 
ally learn  to  separate  two  things:  on  the  one  hand,  the 
estimate  which  the  time  made  of  itself,  its  enthusiasms, 
sentiment,  patriotism,  coloring — in  brief,  the  dream  of  the 
Roman  Empire;  on  the  other  hand,  the  actual  conditions 
and  facts  of  early  modern  civilization. 

The  first  aspect  of  the  Renaissance  was  mainly  confined 
to  Italy  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  and  its 
obvious  reaction  on  other  European  countries.  But  the 
actual  facts  and  conditions  of  early  modern  civilization 
were  necessarily  controlling  facts  and  conditions  for  all  later 
modern  civilization.  It  is  in  these  two  senses  that  our 
conceptions  of  the  Renaissance  as  a  special  period,  and  of 
modern  history  as  a  whole,  either  fall  apart  or  hold  to- 
gether. 


CHAPTER  II. 


CONTEMPORANEOUS  HISTORY. 

For  a  perfectly  practical  and  common-sense  knowledge 
of  facts  (as  distinct  from  theories  about  terms,  which  can 
only  carry  real  meaning  in  so  far  as  we  know  these  facts) 
let  us  remember  what  we  can  of  the  contemporary  history 
of  Europe  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  when  the 
Renaissance  began  and  most  beneficently  flourished. 

In  England  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  had  ended  in  the  ex- 
haustion of  the  feudal  aristocracy  and  the  rise  to  power  of 
a  despotic  Tudor  dynasty  (Henry  VII.,  Henry  VIII.,  Ed- 
ward VI.,  Mary,  Elizabeth)  whose  despotic  power  was 
mainly  used  to  antagonize  the  feudal  nobles  and  to  exalt 
the  importance  of  the  cities  and  of  the  commercial  classes. 
The  great  personal  popularity  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  in  spite 
of  her  arbitrary  acts  and  despotic  rule,  is  the  best  re- 
minder of  this  significance  of  her  dynasty. 

In  France  the  same  alliance  of  royal  despotism  and  com- 
merce against  feudalism  was  still  more  apparent  during  the 
reigns  of  Louis  XL,  Charles  VIIL,  Louis  XII.,  Francis  I., 
and  their  successors.  During  these  two  centuries  England, 
France,  and  Spain  all  illustrate  the  tendency  to  national 
consolidation  and  concentration,  as  opposed  to  the  earlier 
dismemberment  of  these  countries  in  local  feudal  princi- 
palities. 

As  regards  the  existence  of  modern  monarchies  and 
modern  states,  the  history  of  modern  Europe  at  this  time, 
therefore,  clearly  begins  to  show  its  character.    In  Ger- 

19 


20 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


many  we  find  at  this  time  the  memorable  events  of  the 
Reformation.  Otherwise,  the  great  maritime  discoveries 
made  first  by  Portugal  and  Spain,  the  invention  and  spread 


Fig.  2. — Armor  of  Christian  II.  of  Denmark.    Italian  Renaissance 
Ornamentation.    First  half  of  Sixteenth  Century. 

of  the  art  of  printing,  the  use  of  gunpowder,  and  of  stand- 
ing armies  of  artillery  and  infantry,  and  the  astronomical 
announcements  of  Copernicus  regarding  the  true  nature 
of  the  planetary  system  are  to  be  mentioned  as  leading 
facts  of  general  history.  Where  then,  the  student  may 
ask,  does  the  Renaissance  appear  to  be  a  controlling  fact 
of  history  ? 

To  this  we  might  answer:  first,  that  in  so  far  as  the 
organization  of  a  modern  state  is  concerned,  its  necessary 


Contemporaneous  History,  21 


basis  is  admitted  to  be  a  uniform  system  of  taxation;  and 
this  again  presupposes  a  census,  an  administrative  system, 
and  settled  and  prosperous  industries.  Now  in  all  these 
things  it  is  known  that  Italy  was  the  teacher  of  Europe. 
As  opposed  to  the  arbitrary,  oppressive,  spasmodic,  and  ill- 
adjusted  levies  of  money  made  by  the  sovereigns  of 
northern  Europe  down  to  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
Italy  was  the  country  where  a  census  and  uniform  taxation 
were  first  generally  in  use,  and  they  spread  from  this 


Fig.  3.— Tomb  of  the  Children  of  Charles  VIII.   Tours.    Renaissance  style. 

country  to  the  North.  The  state  of  Ferrara  has  been 
much  quoted  for  its  especially  fine  administrative  system. 
Florence  and  Venice  were  also  among  the  foremost  in 
matters  of  the  census  and  of  regular  taxation.    The  diplo- 


22 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


matic  system  of  Venice  was  so  highly  developed  that  the 
reports  of  her  ambassadors  to  the  various  states  of  Europe 
are  at  present  our  best  authority  for  the  history  of  the  six- 
teenth and  seventeenth  centuries.  The  histories  of  •  the 
German  historian  Ranke,  which  are  the  best  authority  for 
all  countries  of  Europe  during  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries,  are  largely  founded  on  these  reports.  What 
the  Rothschilds  are  to  the  countries  of  modern  Europe, 
the  bankers  of  Florence  were  to  the  sovereigns  of  the 
North  during  the  fifteenth  century.*  Most  of  the  industries 
of  modern  civilization  can  either  be  traced  to  the  North 
from  Italian  sources  or  were  found  in  Italy  in  highest  per- 
fection. The  manufactures  of  silks,  velvets,  and  laces  may 
be  mentioned  as  cases  in  point. 

It  would  appear  then  for  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  cen- 
turies, that  while  the  size  and  power  of  the  modern  mon- 
archies in  England,  France,  and  Spain  may  first  attract 
attention,  their  very  existence  in  the  matter  of  administra- 
tion was  due  to  Italy.  It  is  significant  that  it  was  cus- 
tomary for  the  courts  of  northern  Europe  during  the 
sixteenth  century  to  have  an  Italian  diplomatist  in  their 
employ.  Such,  for  instance,  was  the  true  position  of  the 
unfortunate  Rizzio  at  the  court  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots, 
although  he  is  generally  quoted  by  English  historians  as 
having  been  a  musician. 

In  the  matter  of  the  maritime  discoveries,  which  are  the 
most  obvious  distinction  of  the  fifteenth  century,  it  should 
not  be  forgotten  that  Columbus  was  a  Genoese,  that 
the  Cabots  were  Venetians,  and  that  the  knowledge  of  the 
earth's  rotundity,  which  was  the  basis  of  the  search  of 
Columbus  for  the  eastern  shores  of  Asia,  was  spread  by 

*  For  an  account  of  their  enormous  loans  to  French  sovereigns,  see  the  History 
of  France  by  Michelet, 


Contemporaneous  History,  .'23 


Florentine  astronomers  and  men  of  learning.  As  regards 
the  science  of  modern  warfare,  we  may  mention  that  the 
first  treatise  on  gunnery  was  written  by  the  artist  Leonardo 
da  Vinci,  who  was  himself  a  practical  artilleryman.  Al- 
though printing  was  invented  in  Germany,  it  was  in  Venice 
that  the  art  found  its  early  highest  developments  Coper- 
nicus was  a  native  of  Prussia,  but  he  had  studied  five  years 
in  Rome  before  reaching  his  conclusions  regarding  the 
planetary  system. 

It  would  appear  from  the  above  suggestions  that  even 
where  other  countries  of  Europe  seem  to  have  been  fore- 
most, an  Italian  influence  may  frequently  or  generally  be 
traced  and  proven.  As  regards  the  general  system  of 
modern  law  we  know  that  the  University  of  Bologna  was 
the  great  center  of  legal  studies  during  the  centuries  which 


Fig.  4.— German  Renaissance  Fowling  Pieces  (about  1600).   In  Vienna. 
Style  and  designs  Italian. 


24 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


prepared  the  way  for  modern  times,  and  that  the  Univer- 
sity of  Padua  was  the  famous  center  of  Europe  for  the 
study  of  anatomy  and  medicine.  It  is  no  mere  chance 
which  has  made  the  vioHns  of  Cremona  famous  above  all 
others,  and  that  the  word  ' '  piano ' '  is  ItaHan,  or  that  Lom- 
bard Street  in  London  has  its  name  from  the  Italian  bank- 
ers who  were  settled  there.  It  is  no 
mere  chance  which  carries  the  names 
of  Torricelli  and  Galileo  wherever  the 
study  of  physics  travels,  or  that  the 
name  of  Galvani  has  coined  a  new 
English  word.  It  is  no  mere  chance 
that  the  finest  European  palace  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  architecturally 
speaking,  was  built  for  the  residence  of 
a  Florentine  banker  of  the  fifteenth 
century  (the  Pitti  Palace),  or  that 
Venetian  glass'*  is  still  a  synonym 
for  all  that  is  elegant  and  graceful  in 
that  material.  It  is  no  mere  chance 
that  the  parks  of  French  Versailles  or 
German  Schwetzingen  and  Hesse  Cassel 
were  imitations  of  Italian  originals, 
whose  landscape  gardening  was  the  in- 
FiG.  5.— French  Renais-  spiratiou  of  all  modcm  art  in  this  direc- 

sance  Bellows.    (Italian     .  -1  .1.  '^'i 

style.)  Collection  of  the  tiou.  It  IS  not  chauce  that  artihcial 
flowers  were  known  as  ' '  Italian  flowers' ' 
In  Germany,  or  that  the  lace  manufactures  of  Valenciennes 
and  Alen^on  were  transplanted  from  the  Island  of  Murano, 
or  that  the  high  ruffs  of  Queen  Elizabeth  point  to  a  fashion 
which  came  from  Italy. 

For  the  matter  of  refinement  in  behavior,  we  have  the 
opinion  of  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  that  the  finest  work  ever 


Contemporaneous  History. 


25 


written  on  good  breeding  was  that  entitled  ' '  The  Cour- 
tier," which  came  from  the  pen  of  Raphael's  friend,  the 
Count  Castiglione.  For 
the  matter  of  general 
education,  we  have  the 
opinion  of  Gregorovi- 
us,  the  greatest  Ger- 
man authority  on  the 
history  of  medieval 
Rome,  that  the  Italian 
ladies  of  the  fifteenth 
century  were  the  su- 
periors in  education  of 
the  German  ladies  of 
our  own  day.  We 
know  that  lady  profes- 
sors were  lecturing  in 
the  University  of  Bo- 
logna some  centuries 

Uf^fr^rt:^    fV><a     Amf^r\nctr\     FiG.  6— Renaissance  Italian  silver-gilt  Wine 

oeiore   me   /American      pitcher,  sixteenth  Century.  School  of  Ben- 
colleges    were    hesita-  ^^""^^  C^^^^"^-   ^^"^  ^^^^^^^  Florence. 

ting  to  admit  a  female  student.  It  is  only  necessary  to 
glance  at  the  portraits  of  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  century 
Italians,  which  will  be  found  in  later  pages,  to  be  aware  of 
their  intellectual  and  personal  refinement;  a  refinement 
which  does  not  equally  distinguish,  for  instance,  the  German 
portraits  of  the  same  age. 

Finally,  in  the  matter  of  literature  let  us  notice  thr 
Italian  inspiration  of  Spenser's  ''Faerie  Queene,"  and  the 
dramas  of  Shakespeare  which  are  founded  on  Italian  stories 
or  whose  scenes  are  laid  in  Italy — then  those  additional 
ones  (all  of  the  antique  subjects)  based  on  the  ''Lives "  of 
Plutarch,  a  work  which  found  its  way  into  Shakespeare's 


26 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


library  through  a  French  translation,  but  which  first  came 
into  notice  through  Italian  students.  Or  turn  to  the 
''Paradise  Lost''  of  Milton,  who  had  traveled  in  Italy, 
and  consider  the  classical  citations  and  references  drawn 
from  Italian  learning.  In  the  literature  of  the  French,  the 
comedies  of  Moliere  or  the  tragedies  of  Corneille  and  Ra- 
cine will  offer  still  more  striking  illustrations. 

It  is  apparent  from  these  references  that  the  statues  of 
Michael  Angelo,  Donatello,  and  Verocchio,  the  paintings  of 
Raphael,  Correggio,  and  Titian,  the  buildings  of  Brunel- 
lesco,  of  Bramante  and  Palladio,  are  not  isolated  facts  ex- 
plained by  isolated  individual  genius  in  the  history  of  art. 
They  are  facts  of  general  history,  phases  of  general  civiliza- 
tion, illustrations  parallel  to  those  which  I  have  just 
advanced  in  other  lines  of  intellectual  activity,  of  educa- 
tion, culture,  and  refinement. 


CHAPTER  III. 


POSITION  OF  ART  IN  THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE. 

It  is  interesting  to  inquire,  for  a  moment,  why  the  art  of 
the  Renaissance  has  assumed  such  proportions  in  the  pubHc 
eye  as  to  dwarf  its  other  claims  to  glory.  Why  is  it  that 
the  influence  of  Italian  studies  on  Harvey's  announcement 
of  the  circulation  of  the  blood  or  the  precedence  of  Italian 
students  in  the  investigations  of  political  economy  is  less 
prominent  in  the  public  mind  than  the  frescoes  of  the 
Vatican  or  the  tombs  of  the  Medici  ? 

One  obvious  answer  is  that  modern  science  and  modern 
civilization  at  large  have  far  outstripped  their  first  begin- 
nings— so  far,  that  these  beginnings  are  forgotten  in  the 
magnitude  and  wonders  of  later  and  recent  discoveries; 
whereas  the  absolute  superiority  of  Italian  art  in  the  early 
sixteenth  century  to  our  own  art  of  the  nineteenth  century 
is  still  uncontested  and  incontestable.  No  critic  has  ever 
claimed  that  the  art  of  the  nineteenth  century  rivals  the 
Italian  art  of  the  early  sixteenth  century — that  we  have 
produced  anything  to  compare  with  the  color  of  Venetian 
paintings,  with  the  figure  composition  of  Raphael,  or  with 
the  colossal  genius  which  reveals  itself  in  the  ceiling  decora- 
tion of  the  Sistine  Chapel. 

In  other  words,  modern  civilization  has  gone  forward  as 
a  whole,  but  in  its  later  art  it  has  neither  surpassed  nor 
equaled  its  earliest  achievements.  The  verdict  of  the 
modern  artist  and  the  modern  critic  still  awards  the  palm 

27 


Fig.  7.— Wrought  iron  Standard-holder  on  the  Strozzi  Palace,  Florence. 
By  Caprarra,  Fifteenth  Century  Renaissance. 


Position  of  Art  in  the  Italian  Renaissance. 


29 


to  Ghiberti  or  to  Titian,  while  the  man  of  science  who 
stands  on  the  shoulders  of  GaHleo  possibly  forgets  him  in 
the  marvels  of  his  own  discoveries. 

One  task,  therefore,  of  the  art  critic  and  the  art  historian 
IS  to  explain  the  reasons  why  art  and  science  have  so  far 
parted  company;  to  show  the  peculiar  position  of  art  in  the 
Renaissance  period,  the  special  causes  of  its  special  ex- 
cellence and  the  reasons  for  its  later  relative  decline;  but 
without  forgetting  to  point  out  that  the  excellence  of 
Renaissance  art  was  only  one  phase  of  a  general  culture 
which  otherwise  has 
culminated  in  the 
triumph  of  later  civ- 
ilization. 

Some  further 
points  regarding  the 
relations  of  art  to 
the  public  and  social 
life  of  early  Italy 
have  been  m  e  n  - 
tioned  in  my  ''Ro- 
man and  Medieval 
Art, ' '  in  matter  re- 
lating to  the  Italian 

paintings  of  the  fourteenth  century,  the  late  Gothic  period 
of  Italy.  ^ 

If  we  again  turn  to  our  question— why  is  it  that  the  art 
of  the  Renaissance  has  assumed  such  proportions  in  the 
public  eye  as  to  dwarf  its  other  claims  to  glory?— we  shall 
find  another  obvious  answer  waiting  for  us. 

The  paintings  of  Raphael  and  the  statues  of  Michael 
Angelo  can  be  seen.  Every  traveler  in  Italy  makes 
acquaintance  with  them.    The  beauties  of  Italian  art  are 


Fig.  8 —Carved  wooden  Trousseau  Chest,  support- 
ing the  Roman  Wolf.    Early  Italikn 
Renaissance.  Siena. 


30 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


familiar  to  every  picture  gallery  of  Europe.  Engravings 
and  photographs  and  casts  and  copies  have  spread  the 
knowledge  of  this  art  wherever  modern  civilization  has 
made  its  way.  It  is  quite  a  different  matter  to  laboriously 
search  for  the  principles  of  law,  of  governmental  science,  for 
the  connections  of  literary  influence,  to  trace  out  the  history 
of  inventions  and  industries,  to  follow  the  course  of  social 
life,  the  history  of  music  or  of  medicine,  of  diplomacy  or 
manners.  These  studies  are  among  the  most  laborious 
known  to  man.  They  demand  the  patience  and  the  talents 
of  a  specialist,  either  to  make  them  at  first  hand  or  to 
study  them  when  they  have  been  made.  It  is  partly  be- 
cause buildings,  pictures,  statues,  and  decorations  last  and 
are  visible  to  every  eye,  that  Italian  art  holds  a  place  in  the 
history  of  art  which  only  the  specialist  is  able  to  concede  to 
Italy  in  the  history  of  civilization. 

But  we  have  still  a  reason  why  Renaissance  art  has  been 
exalted  at  the  expense  of  the  Renaissance  civilization  which 
produced  it.  Italy  as  a  country  did  not  long  hold  the 
pre-eminence  which  belonged  to  her  in  the  fifteenth  and 
early  sixteenth  centuries.  Other  nations  profited  by  her 
advance  and  took  her  place.  In  successive  order  Spain, 
France,  England,  and  Germany  have  filled  the  place  which 
she  once  took  in  science,  art,  and  letters.  Italian 
paintings  of  the  seventeenth  century  are  not  superior  to 
those  produced  by  Spain  or  Flanders  at  the  same  time. 
English  artists  in  the  eighteenth  century  and  French  and 
American  artists  in  the  nineteenth  century  have  far  out- 
stripped the  Italians  of  these  same  centuries;  and  what 
holds  of  art  holds  also  of  letters  and  of  science  when  we 
compare  the  place  taken  among  nations  by  the  Italy  of 
to-day  with  the  place  taken  among  nations  by  the  Italy  of 
1500.    Of  all  contrasts,  that  would  be  most  striking,  which 


Position  of  Art  in  the  Italian  Renaissance. 


31 


should  compare  the  Netherlands  of  the  seventeenth  century 
vith  the  Italy  of  the  same  time,  as  related  with  a  similar 
comparison  for  two  centuries  before. 

In  other  words,  special  nations  have  controlled  the  field 


Fig.  9. — Italian  Renaissance  Bronze  Gates  in  Venice.   Sixteenth  Century. 


of  history  in  intellectual  and  moral  force  at  certain  times. 
Civilization  radiated  from  the  Netherlands  in  the  seven- 
teenth century  to  England  and  America*  as  it  radiated 
from  Italy  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  to  the 
Netherlands,  Spain,  France,  and  Germany. 

In  our  estimate  of  Renaissance  civilization  we  are  bound, 
therefore,  to  consider  the  backwardness  of  other  countries 
at  the  given  time  as  compared  with  Italy,  but  in  our  ac- 

*  Pouglas  Campbell,  "  The  Puritan  in  Holland,  England,  and  America." 


32 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


count  of  the  reasons  why  Itahan  civihzation  has*  been 
edipsed  by  its  own  triumph  over  other  nations,  we  are 
bound  to  consider  that  these  other  nations  have  become  in 
their  turn  superior.  The  payment  of  a  debt  of  gratitude 
to  the  past  is  easily  overlooked  when  the  wheel  of  history 
has  made  another  turn. 

Probably,  therefore,  there  is  no  matter  of  more  immedi- 
ate importance  to  our  subject  than  to  understand  the  causes 
which  led  to  the  relative  decline  of  Italy  after  the  first 
quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century,  which  was  the  zenith  of 
the  Renaissance.  A  natural  skepticism  of  the  human  mind 
often  asserts  itself  above  the  verdict  of  the  critic.  The 
greatness  of  the  * '  Old  Masters ' '  has  been  often  called  in 
doubt,  although  never -overthrown.  Two  things  appear 
essential  to  a  reasonable  philosophy  of  their  greatness,  to 
show  not  only  what  produced  it,  but  to  show  also  why  it 
did  not  last. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


HISTORY  OF  ITALY  SINCE  THE  RENAISSANCE,  AS  EXPLAIN- 
ING THE  DECLINE  OF  ITALIAN  ART. 

In  OUR  own  time  only,  has  Italy  taken  a  place  among 
European  powers  as  a  united  national  state.  Her  national 
existence  as  a  country  with  one  government  is  as  recent  as 
1 87 1,  and  even  the  beginnings  of  her  rise  to  national  unity 
are  as  recent  as  1859. 

It  was  in  this  year  that  the  Kingdom  of  Sardinia,  whose 
main  and  most  important  territory  was  the  province  of  Sa- 
voy, began,  under  Victor  Emmanuel,  to  extend  its  power 
over  other  parts  of  Italy.  In  1859  the  territory  of  Milan 
was  added  to  this  kingdom  at  the  expense  of  Austria, 
which  then  controlled  it,  by  the  Peace  of  Villafranca. 

It  will  assist  our  conception  of  the  condition  of  Italy  dur- 
ing the  period  between  the  early  Renaissance  and  the 
second  half  of  our  own  century  if  we  now  trace  the  history 
of  Milan  from  1859  back  to  1545.  Till  1859  Milan  had 
been  Austrian  territory  since  the  French  Revolution.  Be- 
fore the  French  Revolution  it  had  been  Austrian  territory 
since  17 13  and  the  close  of  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Suc- 
cession. Before  1700  Milan  had  been  Spanish  territory 
since  1545. 

In  i860,  one  year  after  the  Kingdom  of  Sardinia  had 
acquired  Milan,  General  Garibaldi  inaugurated  a  revolution 
in  Sicily  which  had  momentous  consequences.  The  State 
of  Naples,  that  is  all  Italy  south  of  the  States  of  the 

33 


34 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


Church,  including  Sicily,  declared  for  Italian  unity  under 
Victor  Emmanuel;  and  Tuscany,  with  several  minor  Italian 
States,  followed  the  same  course.  This  gave  Italy  her 
present  national  dimensions,  less  the  States  of  the  Church 
and  the  State  of  Venice. 

We  will  now  trace  back  the  histories  of  Naples  and  Tus- 
cany to  the  time  of  the  early  Renaissance,  as  we  have 
already  traced  that  of  Milan.  Before  i860  Naples  and 
Sicily  were  ruled  by  a  Spanish  Bourbon  dynasty.  Aside 
from  the  time  of  the  French  Revolution  and  of  Bonaparte, 
Naples  and  Sicily  had  been  Spanish  Bourbon  since  1738. 
Before  1738  they  had  been  Austrian  territory  since  17 13. 
Before  17 13  they  had  been  Spanish  territory  since  1501. 

Before  i860  Tuscany  was  ruled  by  a  branch  of  the  House 
of  Austria,  and  had  been  so  ruled,  aside  from  the  time  of 
the  French  Revolution  and  of  Bonaparte,  since  1737.  Be- 
fore 1737  Tuscany  had  been  ruled  in  the  interest  of  Spain 
by  a  dynasty  dating  from  the  year  1530  and  the  marriage 
of  a  Medici  grandee  with  a  daughter  of  the  Hapsburg 
Emperor,  Charles  V. 

We  will  now  return  to  modern  Italy  after  i860.  Her 
next  step  toward  consolidation  was  the  incorporation  of  the 
territory  of  Venice,  which  fell  to  Italy  as  a  result  of  her 
participation  in  the  war  waged  by  Prussia  against  Austria 
under  the  direction  of  Count  Bismarck,  in  1 866.  Venice, 
therefore,  before  1866,  was  Austrian  territory  and  had  been 
so  ruled  since  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  in  1815.  The  loss 
of  her  mdependence  had  been  then  as  recent  as  the  cam- 
paigns of  Bonaparte  in  Italy. 

The  final  step  in  the  consolidation  of  modern  Italy  was 
the  acquisition  of  the  States  of  the  Church  and  the  occupa- 
tion of  Rome  as  the  capital  city  of  the  nation.  This  event 
occurred  in  1871  as  a  result  of  the  Franco- Prussian  war. 


History  of  Italy  since  the  Renaissance, 


35 


The  French  troops  who  had  occupied  Rome  in  the  interests 
of  the  States  of  the  Church  were  withdrawn  for  service  at 
home  against  the  Germans,  and  united  Italy  thus  gained 
Rome  for  its  capital.  The  independence  of  the  States  of 
the  Church  then  terminated,  dated  from  the  time  when  the 
Exarchate  of  Ravenna  was  presented  to  the  popes  by  the 
father  of  Charlemagne.* 

From  this  sketch  of  the  recent  history  of  Italy,  and  from 
these  facts  relating  to  the  earlier  history  of  her  various  ter- 
ritories it  results  that  at  the  opening  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion and  the  close  of  the  last  century,  her  only  important 
independent  territories  were  the  States  of  the  Church  and 
the  State  of  Venice,  the  latter  then  in  a  condition  of 
political  dotage  and  decay. 

Otherwise,  it  results  from  this  sketch,  that  of  the  three 
main  political  divisions  of  Italy,  aside  from  the  two  just 
named,  Naples  and  Sicily  were  foreign  territory  as  early  as 
1 499 ;  that  Tuscany  was  ruled  in  foreign  interest  as  early  as 
1530,  and  that  Milan  was  Spanish  as  early  as  1545. 

In  other  words,  the  decline  of  Italy  and  of  Italian  art 
after  the  first  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century  is  explained 
by  a  loss  of  political  independence,  according  to  dates  and 
conditions  thus  briefly  sketched,  and  what  has  been  said 
about  the  greater  Italian  States  holds,  with  slight  variations 
of  time  and  detail,  for  the  lesser  ones. 

In  the  political  downfall  of  Italy,  following  the  early 
Renaissance  period,  we  have  two  turning  points  of  decisive 
import:  the  sack  of  Rome  by  the  army  of  Charles  V.  in 
1527,  the  siege  of  Florence  and  consequent  downfall  of 
Tuscany  in  1529  and  1530.  All  other  events  are  merely 
matters  of  detail  in  comparison  with  these.  In  1527, 
through  the  sack  of  Rome,  the  popes  were  obliged  to 

*  "  Roman  and  Medieval  Art,"  p.  ii6, 


36 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


abandon  the  task  they  had  set  themselves — of  defending 
Italy  from  foreign  invasion.  In  1530  the  establishment  of 
a  Medici  despotism  over  the  State  of  Florence  (Tuscany) 
sounded  the  death-knell  of  the  less  powerful  Italian  free- 
states  and  principalities.* 

Let  us  now  observe  the  relation  of  dates  in  the  history  of 
Italian  art  to  these  events.  The  last  monumental  wall- 
painting  in  point  of 
time,  belonging  to  the 
zenith  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance,  was 
Michael  Angelo's 
"Last  Judgment.'* 
This  was  begun  in 
1534;  the  painter,  Cor- 
reggio,  died  in  the 
same  year.  Raphael 
died  in  1520  and  Le- 
onardo da  Vinci  died 
in  1 5 19.  We  cannot 
point  to  any  important 
school  or  artist  of  the 
zenith  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance  after  1534, 
outside  of  the  school 
of  Venice,  whose  per- 
fection lasted  for  some 
time  longer.  We  also 
note  that  Venice  was  the  one  important  State  of  Italy  which 
had  preserved  its  independence  after  this  time.  In  the 
architecture  and  decoration  of  Renaissance  style,  we  trace 
a  rapid  contemporaneous  decline.    In  the  sculpture  of  the 

*  Grimm's  "  Life  of  Michael  Angelo"  offers  an  excellent  account  of  these  events. 


Fig.   10. — French  Renaissance  Doorway  at 
Frejus  (Southern  France.) 


History  of  Italy  since  the  Renaissance,  37 


Renaissance  we  follow  the   same  course  and  tendency. 

In  the  philosophy  of  our  subject,  then,  we  follow  the  lead 
of  all  great  writers  and  critics  in  connecting  the  greatest  de- 
velopment of  Italian  art  with  a  period  of  then  unexampled 
commercial  prosperity,  which  the  country  enjoyed  between 
1300  and  1530 — and  with  the  existence  of  a  series  of  small 
but  vigorous  and  stirring  principalities,  republics,  and  free- 
states,  whose  small  dimensions  allowed  and  favored  a 
wonderful  development  and  assertion  of  individual  char- 
acter, whose  very  rivalries  and  contentions  contributed  to  a 
production  of  works  of  art  in  which  each  little  state  strove 
to  surpass  its  neighbors.* 

In  the  philosophy  of  our  subject  we  again  agree  with 
greater  authorities  in  connecting  the  first  decline  of  Italian 
Renaissance  art  with  the  political  overthrow  of  the  small 
Italian  principalities  and  free-states.  But  this  political 
downfall  of  the  Italian  communities  has  a  deeper  significance 
for  social  history,  both  in  Italy  and  in  northern  Europe, 
than  might  be  imagined.  When  its  obvious  causes  are 
sought  for  they  appear  to  be  the  weakness  of  small  states 
divided  by  jealousies  and  unable  to  unite  against  a  foreign 
foe  (France  or  Spain,  as  the  case  might  be)  of  greater 
military  power.  Undoubtedly  the  Italian  States  were  small 
and  divided  one  against  the  other.  Undoubtedly  the  Italians 
had  grown  effeminate  through  over-civilization,  by  contrast 
with  the  more  brutal  soldiery  and  larger  standing  armies  of 
the  North — but  the  essential  fact  remains  that  Italy  became 
the  battle-ground  of  Europe  in  the  early  sixteenth  century 
because  her  territories  were  the  richest  and  most  highly 
civilized.  The  essential  fact  remains  that  the  entry  of 
northern  powers  into  Italy,  implies  the  necessary  spread  of 


*For  the  relations  of  the  artists  to  these  political  conditions,  see  "  Roman  and 
Medieval  Art,"  pp.  216-228. 


38 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


Italian  civilization  to  the  North  by  virtue  of  this  contact. 
The  decline  of  the  Italian  Renaissance  at  home  is  thus 
contemporaneous  with  the  spread  of  the  Italian  Renaissance 
over  Europe,  and  the  very  downfall  of  the  Italian  States 
attests  the  superiority  of  their  material  prosperity  and  of 
their  civilization  as  attracting  the  cupidity  of  France  and 
Spain  and  Germany. 


CHAPTER  V. 


DIVISIONS  OF  RENAISSANCE  PERIODS  AND  STYLE. 

In  the  periods  of  Renaissance  art  we  thus  distinguish 
two  divisions  of  especial  importance — one  between  1400 
and  1530,  the  time  of  development,  of  greatest  success,  of 
supreme  triumph;  one  after  1530,  the  time  of  expansion 
over  Europe  and  of  relative  decline  at  home. 

These  divisions  in  the  history  of  art  correspond  to  the 
general  facts  respecting  civilization  at  large,  which  the  art 
accompanies,  attests,  and  reflects. 

It  is  in  line  with  these  facts  that  the  general  art  of  North 
Continental  Europe  is  mainly  superior  in  the  seventeenth 
century  to  that  of  Italy,  although  originally  derived  from 
it.  This  seventeenth  century  art  of  North  Continental 
Europe  again  yields  in  importance  to  that  of  England  when 
the  eighteenth  century  is  reached.  In  the  art  of  painting, 
at  least,  the  Renaissance  drew  its  last  breath  on  the  shores 
of  the  New  World,  with  the  painters  of  the  American  revo- 
lutionary time,  who  In  their  turn  had  derived  from  England 
the  inspiration  of  Reynolds  and  of  Gainsborough.  The 
art  of  the  Americans,  Washington  Allston,  Copley,  Gilbert 
Stuart,  and  Rembrandt  Peale,  is  thus  an  interesting  contin- 
uation and  survival  of  that  of  the  '^Old  Masters." 

It  will  now  assist  our  sketch  of  the  early  Renaissance 
(1400- 1 5 30)  to  fix  a  few  synchronisms  in  mind. 

In  1453  the  conquest  of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks 
ended  the  history  of  the  Byzantine  Empire  and  of  ancient 
Roman  civilization.    This  event  is  universally  quoted  for 

39 


40 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


its  influence  on  the  intellectual  activity  and  the  learning  of 
Italy,  as  many  learned  Greeks  then  settled  there,  and  the 
treasures  of  ancient  classic  literature  were,  in  consequence, 
more  actively  studied.  In  1452  the  second  pair  of  Ghib- 
erti's  bronze  doors  for  the  Florence  Baptistery  were  fin- 
ished. There  is,  therefore,  an  exact  synchronism  between 
the  revival  of  classic  learning  in  Italy  and  the  comple- 
tion of  Ghiberti's  doors,  which  are  the  most  remarkable 
works  of  art  finished  during  the  earlier  Renaissance. 

In  1498  Columbus  touched  the  shores  of  the  American 
continent.  About  the  same  year  Leonardo  da  Vinci 
finished  his  "Last  Supper"  at  Milan,  which  is  the  paint- 
ing of  paintings  in  the  history  of  art;  not  because  it  is  nec- 
essarily the  greatest  of  all  pictures,  although  this  might 
easily  be  claimed  for  it,  but  because  nothing  done  before  it 
remotely  approached  either  its  greatness  of  conception,  or 
its  perfection  of  execution,  and  because  nothing  was  done 
after  it  which  did  not  owe  a  portion  of  its  perfection  to 
the  influence  of  the  great  master  who  achieved  it. 

In  the  following  year  Leonardo's  patron,  the  Duke  Lu- 
dovico  Sforza,  fled  from  Milan,  as  the  French,  under  Louis 
XII.,  invaded  his  territory,  one  step  in  the  series  of  cam- 
paigns which  thirty  years  later  terminated  in  the  political 
downfall  of  Italy.  Most  of  the  greatest  Italian  paintings 
belong  to  the  intervening  time.  In  1501  Ferdinand  the 
Catholic,  of  Spain,  conquered  the  territory  of  Naples  and 
Sicily,  that  is  all  Italy  south  of  the  States  of  the  Church. 

In  1509  Henry  VIII.  of  England  succeeded  his  father. 
In  1506  Pope  JuHus  II.  began  the  erection  of  St.  Peter's 
Church,  at  Rome,  the  greatest  building  of  the  Renaissance. 
In  1508  the  ceiling  frescoes  of  the  Sistine  Chapel  were  be- 
gun by  Michael  Angelo,  and  the  frescoes  of  the  Vatican 
Palace  were  begun  by  Raphael. 


Divisions  of  Renaissance  Periods  and  Style.  41 


In  152 1  Luther  attended  the  Diet  of  Worms,  and  the 
great  wars  began  in  Italy  between  France  and  Spain  for  the 
leadership  of  Europe  and  the  mastery  of  Milan.  Raphael 
died  one  year,  and  Da  Vinci  died  two  years  before  these 
events. 

In  1527  and  1530  respectively,  occurred  the  sack  of  Rome 
and  the  capitulation  of  Florence.  None  of  the  greater 
Italian  painters  survived  these  events  more  than  a  few  years 
— excepting  Michael  Angelo  and  the  artists  of  the  Venetian 
school.  In  Vasari's  Lives  of  the  Artists,"  our  one  great 
original  authority  for  artists'  biographies  in  Italy,  it  is  of 
great  interest  to  follow  the  fortunes  and  work  of  the  various 
painters  as  affected  by  the  sack  of  Rome,  and  their  conse- 
quent dispersion  and  failing  fortunes. 

According  to  foregoing  dates  the  zenith  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance  dates  between  the  completion  of  the  ' '  Last 
Supper,''  1498,  and  the  beginning  of  the  ''Last  Judg- 
ment," 1534. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  TRAITS  OF  RENAISSANCE  ARCHITECTURE. 

I  HAVE  endeavored  to  indicate  some  various  answers  to 
the  question,  ''What  was  the  Renaissance?"  but  we  have 
not  yet  penetrated  beneath  the  surface  or  touched  the  heart 
of  the  matter.  In  fact,  until  we  take  up  its  art  in  individual 
examples,  it  would  be  difficult  to  fix  the  real  character  of 
the  time. 

So  far,  in  the  illustrations  scattered  throughout  preceding 
pages,  my  idea  has  been  to  show,  through  forms,  orna- 
ment, furniture,  details  of  buildings,  and  the  like,  the 
general  influence  of  Italian  Renaissance  civilization  on  for- 
eign countries  and  the  rest  of  Europe,  from  the  point  of 
view  that  the  object  which  can  be  seen  represents  a  wider 
influence  in  science,  manners,  laws,  and  culture. 

Comparison  with  following  illustrations  from  Italy  will 
indicate  the  relation  and  dependence  of  this  art,  and,  there- 
fore, of  the  attendant  civilization,  on  the  Italian. 

It  often  happens  that  a  superficial  fact  represents  and  im- 
plies an  underlying  current,  a  hidden  spring  of  power,  a 
deep-seated  motive  and  cause.  Thus  it  is  with  the  archi- 
tecture and  ornament  of  this  historic  period,  whose  lasting 
historic  influence  on  every  phase  of  modern  life  is  still 
attested  by  the  ' '  brownstone  fronts ' '  of  New  York  City, 
by  the  new  Parliament  House  of  Berlin,  by  the  Opera 
House  of  Paris,  by  the  City  Halls  of  New  York,  of  Phila- 
delphia and  Chicago,   by  countless  public  and  business 

4? 


Fig,  II,— Room  in  the  Chateau  of  Oyron.   French  Renaissance. 


44 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


buildings  in  every  city  of  Europe  and  America,  and  by  the 
terminal  ornaments  of  many  bedsteads  and  bureaus  of  ordi- 
nary fashion  down  to  the  year  1870. 

I  have  in  my  ^ '  Roman  and  Medieval  Art ' '  given  some 
account  of  the  *  *  Italian  Gothic ' '  architecture,  of  its  repug- 
nance to  the  usual  appearance  and  natural  principles  of  the 
Gothic  of  northern  Europe,  of  its  remarkable  versatility  of 
appearance,  combined  with  constant  rejection  of  what  we 
know  as  Gothic  character.  In  this  rejection  of  the  Gothic 
by  the  so-called  * '  Italian  Gothic, ' '  we  have  a  prophecy  of 
the  character  of .  the  Renaissance,  whose  leading  feature 
was  outspoken  reaction  against  the  ideals,  tastes,  and  habits 
of  the  Middle  Ages. 

In  northern  Europe  the  overthrow  of  the  Gothic  art  was 
violent,  revolutionary,  and  essentially  sudden.  It  was  dis- 
placed by  the  Italian  architectural  style  and  art  now  known 
as  the  Renaissance,  and  the  Gothic  rapidly  tended  to  dis- 
appear after  the  opening  of  the  sixteenth  century  in  favor  of 
this  Italian  style,  and  ultimately  disappeared  entirely. 

Some  English  buildings  of  the  middle  seventeenth  cen- 
tury are  among  the  latest  to  show  Gothic  character,  and 
England,  by  virtue  of  her  remote  and  insular  position,  was 
the  last  country,  aside  from  Russia,  to  yield  completely  to 
the  Italianizing  movement,  which  naturally  reached  her 
through  intermediate  countries. 

The  spread  of  this  Italian  style  to  the  north  was  simply 
one  result  of  a  diffusion  of  Italian  taste  and  culture  which 
carried  with  itself  a  particular  architectural  style.  In  other 
words,  the  history  of  Renaissance  architecture  in  northern 
Europe  is  a  secondary  fact,  conveying  a  much  larger  fact  in 
social  life  and  general  history — some  of  whose  phases  I 
have  briefly  mentioned  in  preceding  pages.  But  although 
the  history  of  architecture  belongs  to  a  series  of  secondary 


The  Traits  of  Renaissance  Architecture, 


45 


facts,  it  is,  notwithstanding,  a  visible  and  ocular  illustration  ol 
this  larger  fact  of  greater  importance:  that  the  ideals,  tastes, 
and  habits  of  medieval  Europe  were  displaced  and  over- 
thrown by  a  wave  of  Italian  culture  and  Italian  civilization. 

At  bottom,  it  was  a  question  in  northern  Europe  of  the 
comforts  and  luxuries  which  were  mainly  unknown  to  the 
Middle  Ages — the  use  of  window  glass  or  of  carpets,  a 
better  table,  more  garden  vegetables,  greater  refinement  of 
manners,  more  intellectual  activity,  less  rude  hunting  and 
warfare,  more  music  and  books,  more  luxurious  furniture, 
m.ore  fashionable  clothes,  more  comfortable  houses,  and  the 
like.  All  these  various  refinements  of  living  spread  from 
Italy  and  carried  with  themselves  tastes  of  decoration  and 
architectural  style,  which  also  were  Italian. 

A  great  assistance  to  the  knowledge  of  our  subject  at 
large  is,  consequently,  some  specific  information  as  to  the 
general  backwardness  of  northern  Europe,  as  compared 
with  Italy  for  the  given  time.  For  American  and  English 
readers  the  best  work  on  this  subject  is  Douglas  CampbelPs 

Puritan  in  Holland,  England,  and  America.'*  When  we 
understand  that  even  an  English  queen  had  to  send  to  the 
Netherlands  for  a  salad;  when  we  can  fix  the  date  when 
starched  and  properly  laundried  linen  was  first  procurable 
in  England,  and  how  it  came  there;  or  the  time  when 
window  glass  was  generally  introduced  from  the  Continent — 
it  is  much  easier  to  appreciate  the  gradual  flow  and  gradual 
introduction  into  northern  Europe  of  the  ordinary  refine- 
ments and  comforts  of  modern  life  from  Italy.  It  is  true 
that  Campbell's  book  solely  concerns  the  contrast  between 
England  and  the  Netherlands,  but  it  none  the  less  graphic- 
ally portrays  the  condition  of  England  at  this  time;  and 
what  holds  at  one  time,  and  in  some  particulars  for  England 
as  against  the  Netherlands,  holds  at  slightly  earlier  dates 


46 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


and  in  other  particulars  for  northern  Europe  in  general  as 
against  Italy. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  understand,  therefore,  why  an  Italian 
architecture  should  have  so  completely  overrun  northern 

Europe,  and  why  its 
traditional  repetition 
should  have  lasted  to 
our  own  day.  It  is  not 
quite  so  immediately 
obvious  why  the  style 
whose  dominant  features 
are  illustrated  in  these 
pages  should  have 
sprung  up  in  Italy  itself 
In  so  far  as  we  have 
attempted  to  describe 
Italian  civilization  of  the 
Renaissance,  it  has  been 
by  emphasizing  its  mod- 
ern character  and  by 
asserting  the  absence  of 
this  modern  quality  in 
northern  Europe  before 
Italian  influence  introduced  it  there.  Why,  then,  should 
this  modern  quality  have  disguised  itself  in  Italy  by  that 
imitation  of  ancient  Roman  art  and  architecture  which  is 
the  one  essential  feature  of  the  Renaissance  style  ?  Before 
answering  this  question,  let  us  verify  this  essential  feature 
in  details  and  by  examples  (Figs.  12-29,  inclusive). 

In  its  developed  examples  we  specify  as  the  most  obvious 
characteristic  of  the  Renaissance  style  the  use  of  the 
' '  Greek  Orders, ' '  and  of  the  classic  columns,  capitals,  and 
details  as  continued  by  the  Roman  Empire;  the  regular  or 


Fig.  12. — Renaissance  Pediment,  Entablature, 
and  "Engaged"  Columns 

Building,  New  York. 


Equitable 


The  Traits  of  Renaissance  Architecture. 


47 


frequent  employment  of  the  ' '  engaged  ' '  columns  and  ' '  en- 
gaged ' '  entablatures,  that  is,  of  the  simulated  Greek  colon- 
nades familiar  on  Roman  ruins;  and  the  gable-shaped  or 
curved  pediments,  likewise  familiar  as  decorations  over 
niches  in  Roman  art,  and  originally  borrowed  from  the  con- 
struction of  the  front  of  a  Greek  temple.  (In  this  deriva- 
tion we  do  not  include  the  curved  pediment  as  having  been 
directly  borrowed  from  Greek  forms;  this  is  a  Roman 
decorative  variant  of  the  gable-shaped  pediment.)* 

Otherwise  we  emphasize  in  Renaissance  surface  orna- 
ment a  revival  of  the 
scroll  ornaments, 
' '  honeysuckles, ' '  an- 
themions,  lotus  trefoils, 
egg-and-dart  mould- 
ings, and  ''acanthus" 
ornaments  ;  of  the 
griffins,  masks,  cupids, 
and  tritons,  which  were 
the  decorative  stock  in 
trade  of  the  later 
Greeks  and  their  Ro- 
man copyists.  The  ''bead  mouldings,"  guilloche,  and 
meander  (key  pattern  or  Greek  fret),  and  rosette  are  also 
constant  or  familiar  ornaments  of  the  Renaissance  copies 
of  the  Greco-Roman  patterns,  f 

*For  the  pediment,  see  "Roman  and  Medieval  Art,"  Figs.  19  and  21.  For 
illustrations  of  "engaged"  columns  and  entablatures,  see  its  Figs.  11,  18,  19.  For 
IheRoman  use  of  Greek  architectural  "  Orders  "  and  ornamental  details,  see  also 
the  architectural  illustrations  of  Chapter  VI.,  of  the  same  work. 

fSee  illustration  p.  51,  "  Roman  and  Medieval  Art."  The  most  important  series 
of  illustrations  for  these  ornamental  details  will  be  found  in  "  Greek  Architecture 
and  Sculpture,"  Chautauqua  Series,  pp.  47-58.  All  these  Greek  ornaments  were 
handed  down  to  the  Roman  architecture  and  were  thence  borrowed  by  the  Renais- 
sance. See  also  Figs,  i,  23,  38,  same  work,  and  all  its  illustrations  for  the  "Orders," 
capitals,  bases,  etc. 


48 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


Let  us  finally  lay  especial  stress  on  the  revival  of  the 
round  arch  and  the  entire  abandonment  of  its  pointed  form. 
This  again  was  due  to  the  Roman  influence. 

In  the  matter  of  these  various  details  which  specify  Re- 


FiG.  14. — French  Renaissance  Detail.    House  of  Agnes  Sorel,  Orleans. 


naissanfSe  style  in  architecture,  the  greatest  difficulty  of  the 
learner  is  his  great  familiarity  with  their  constant  repetitions 
in  nineteenth  century  use.  This  seems  a  strange  assertion 
and  yet  it  is  strictly  true.  It  is  not  always  easy  to  under- 
stand that  with  which  we  are  most  closely  in  contact.  The 
constant  traditional  repetition  of  Renaissance  pediments  in 
furniture,  of  Renaissance  ornamental  details  in  street  cars 
or  on  silverware,  of  Renaissaince  pediments,  '  *  engaged ' ' 
columns  and  entablatures  to  be  everywhere  seen  on  public 
and  private  buildings,  cultivates  a  presumption  that  such 
details  are  a  necessary  feature  of  our  surroundings,  a 
matter-of-course  appearance.  As  now  used  they  have  gen- 
erally lost  the  artistic  quality  which  they  once  possessed, 


The  Traits  of  Renaissance  Architecture,  49 


either  of  composition  or  execution  or  both.  To  indicate 
some  distinctions  between  the  average  Renaissance  forms  of 
our  own  art  and  the  first  Italian  originals  is  one  important 
task  of  my  book,  and  is  best  apparent  from  the  illustrations 
themselves.  These  modern  traditional  repetitions  rarely 
attract  the  eye  by  the  beauty  of  the  older  originals,  and  by 
force  of  constant  repetition  they  have  become  common- 
place— unnoticed  because  they  are  too  familiar. 

We  have  then,  as  learners,  two  distinct  points  of  view 
and  two  points  in  view.  One  is  to  grasp  the  great 
lesson  of  modern  history  involved  in  this  constant  repe- 
tition— the  lesson  that  our  civilization  still  carries  with 
itself  this  mute  witness  and  evidence  of  its  Italian  origin 
snd  coloring.  On  the  other  hand  our  effort  must  be  to 
place  ourselves  at  a  point  of  view  where  these  architectural 
ornaments  and  forms  would  be  an  absolute  novelty,  to  con- 
ceive the  time  when  they  were  unknown  and  unfamiliar, 
and  then  finally  to  grasp  the  causes  which  led  to  their  re- 
adoption  and  exclusive  use. 

Whatever  may  be  the  facts  of  to-day,  the  eye  of  Europe 
in  the  Middle  Ages  was  not  accustomed  to  Greco-Roman 
forms  in  art.  In  Spain,  France,  Germany,  or  Britain,  the 
Roman  ruins  were  even  then  so  rare,  although  they  have 
become  rarer  since,  that  any  knowledge  of  them,  even  in 
an  antiquarian  sense,  was  out  of  question.  In  Italy  Roman 
ruins  were  no  rarity,  and  in  Rome  they  were  abundant,  but 
the  idea  of  copying  their  architecture  never  suggested  itself 
to  an  Italian  of  the  Middle  Age.  That  antiquarian  and 
historic  interest  in  relics  of  the  past  which  is  so  natural  to 
us,  is  an  interest  which  dates  from  the  Renaissance.  To 
the  Middle  Age  the  ruin  was  a  quarry;  nothing  more.  This 
was  its  use  and  interest  until  the  ruin  disappeared,  and  an* 
other  was  sought  to  be  destroyed  in  its  turn. 


50 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


We  have  then  this  problem.  For  a  thousand  years,  from 
the  fifth  to  the  fifteenth  century,  the  Roman  ruins  of  Italy, 
and  especially  of  the  city  of  Rome  itself,  were  an  even 
more  familiar  feature  of  the  daily  surroundings  of  the 
people  than  they  are  to-day  (for  many  have  been  destroyed 
since  the  fifteenth  century,  and  even  the  use  of  the  Colos- 
seum as  a  quarry  was  not  stopped  till  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury) yet  no  one  had  taken  an  interest  in  them.  Least  of 
all  had  any  architect  undertaken  to  transplant  their  orna- 
ments, and  their  constructive  details,  to  a  modern  building. 
Then,  about  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  we  find 


Fig.  15. — So-called  Temple  of  Saturn,  Rome,  and  Arch  of  Septimius  Severus. 
Renaissance  Church  in  the  background. 

new  buildings  in  which  every  ornamental  detail  and  maoy 
constructional  forms  are  directly  borrowed  from  the  Roman 
ruins.    By  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  it  is 


Traits  of  Renaissance  Architecture. 


5^ 


impossible  to  point  to  any  Italian  building  which  does  not 
show  their  influence.  Half  a  century  later  and  all  which 
make  pretensions  to  architectural  effects  are  borrowers  from 
end  to  end  and  from  top  to  bottom  of  Greco-Roman  de- 
tails. 

To  comprehend  the  sweeping  character  of  the  revolution 
in  art  and  history  which  had  thus  taken  place,  we  need 
above  all  to  familiarize  the  eye  with  the  appearance  of  the 
northern  medieval  or  Italian  Gothic  buildings  which  pre- 
ceded. Our  present  illustrations  are  too  precious  to  be 
allotted  to  these  earlier  buildings.  None  the  less  must  the 
reader  bear  them  constantly  in  mind  and  make  use  of  all 
accessible  illustration  for  them.* 

Examine  the  house,  the  castle,  and  the  church  of  the 
Middle  Age — first  in 
northern  Europe.  The 
house  was  a  plain  but 
picturesque  utilitarian 
structure;  often  show- 
ing its  timber  frame- 
work, which  thus 
became  at  once  a  dec- 
orative and  construc- 
tive feature,  often  with 
overhanging  upper 
stories — thus  econo- 
mizing ground  space, 
enlarging  upper  rooms,  and  contributing  to  picturesque 
effect.  The  castle  was  a  stern  and  massive  pile  of  masonry. 
The  church  was  a  miracle  of  stone  lace-work,  of  lofty  spires, 
pointed  pinnacles,  rising  buttresses,  grotesque  gargoyles, 


Fig.  i6. — Renaissance  Villa  near  Vicenza  by 
Palladio,  with  Greco-Roman  portico. 
Sixteenth  Century. 


*  "  Roman  and  Medieval  Art,"  type  of  the  house,  Fig.  122  ;  type  of  the  castle.  Fig. 
120.    Compare  all  its  illustrations  for  Gothic  and  Italian  Gothic  churches. 


52 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


furrowed  piers,  stained-glass  windows,  and  sculptured  door- 
ways.   In  the  great  town  halls  of  Flanders  or  of  northern 

France  we  find  such 
details  transferred  also 
to  the  secular  public 
buildings. 

Compare  the  Italian 
Renaissance  build- 
ings. The  frowning 
castle  is  displaced  by  a 
mansion,  a  country- 
seat,  a  villa,  a  palace, 
or  a  university.  It  is 
not  only  in  the  ap- 
pearance, but  in  the 
uses  and  purposes  of 
buildings,  that  we  find 
a  change.  As  regards 
secular  architecture 
and  private  architec- 
ture, we  ^  h a  V  e  an 
enormous  revolution 
in  society  thus  im- 
plied. The  decorative  exteriors  of  domestic  architecture 
and  private  buildings  are  one  sign  of  that  modern  life  in 
Italy  which  was  then  beginning  there. 

In  the  private  dwellings  of  Italy  we  begin,  then,  to  recog- 
nize the  modern  mansion  as  distinct  from  the  picturesque 
but  generally  unadorned  house  of  the  medieval  burgher. 
In  churches,  the  Italian  could  not  abandon  the  Gothic  dizzy 
interior  altitude,  the  deeply  furrowed  and  clustered  pier,  or 
the  r^eries  of  exterior  perpendicular  buttresses  with  crown- 
ing pinnacles,  because  in  the  Italian  Gothic  he  had  already 


Fig.  17— "  Temple  of  St.  Peter,"  in  the  Cloister 
of  S.  Pietro  in  Montorio,  Rome.  (Greco- 
Roman  Colonnade.)    By  Bramante,  1502. 


Traits  of  Renaissance  Architecture. 


53 


rejected  them.  What  he  did  abandon  was  the  pointed 
arch,  which  the  ItaUan  Gothic  had  in  common  with  the 
North,  the  exterior  panelling  in  horizontal  stripes,  or  in 
lozenges,  of  vari-colored  masonry  and  the  beautiful  decora- 
tive details  which  he  had  himself  worked  over  and  adopted 
from  the  northern  Gothic.  What  he  introduced  we  have 
already  said  was  the  classic  Orders'';  columns,  entabla- 
tures, niche,  door,  and  window  pediments,  and  the  whole 
catalogue  of  ancient  Greco-Roman  ornaments. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  RENAISSANCE  ARCHITECTURE. 

We  HAVE  pointed  out  that  the  change  from  Gothic  to 
Renaissance  style  was  mainly  an  abrupt  and  sudden  one  in 
northern  Europe,  whereas  the  Italian  Gothic  had  fore- 
shadowed, at  least  in  a  negative  way,  the  dislike  for 
medieval  art  forms  which  the  Renaissance  openly  pro- 
claimed. It  is  also  understood  that  the  Renaissance  style 
appeared  in  northern  Europe  at  a  relatively  later  date,  and 
after  the  fashion  was  distinctly  established  in  Italy. 

As  distinct  from  the  more  formal  and  abrupt  introduction 
of  this  architectural  style  in  the  North,  the  growth  of 
Renaissance  style  in  Italy  was  gradual  and  tentative  at  first, 
and  in  the  details  of  carved  ornament  of  the  Italian  Gothic 
we  can  detect  many  anticipations  of  the  classic  influence 
which  ultimately  became  a  constant  formula.  We  will  not, 
however,  just  yet  deal  with  the  actual  historic  beginnings  or 
tentative  features  of  the  early  Renaissance.  We  will  rather 
accept  it  in  ultimate  forms  and  fixed  and  definite  character, 
in  order  to  meet  the  question  so  far  unanswered :  ' '  What 
was  the  cause  of  its  introduction  ?  Why  did  the  first 
modern  nation  of  Europe  turn  back  to  Roman  antiquity  for 
its  ideas  of  art  in  architecture  ?  ' ' 

Strangely  enough  the  answer  does  not  begin  with  archi- 
tectural history.  On  the  contrary  it  appeals  to  the  history 
of  literature.  And  the  appeal  to  literature  goes  back  to 
the  elementary  facts  regarding  the  modern  features  of  Re- 

54 


Philosophy  of  Renaissance  Architecture.  55 


naissance  civilization  which  I  have  already  sketched;  but  in 
a  somewhat  roundabout  and  novel  fashion. 

Let  us  return  to  our  starting  point  and  elementary  posi- 
tion that  Italy,  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  had 
reached  a  phenomenal  degree  of  material  prosperity,  of 
comfort,  of  luxury, 
and  of  refinement. 
With  this  condition 
the  Italian  had  to  con- 
trast ;  first,  the  con- 
temporary condition  of 
northern  medieval  and 
feudal  Europe;  second, 
his  own  previous  me- 
dieval condition.  Both 
of  these  contrasts  were 
to  his  thinking,  to  the 
disadvantage  of  the 
Germanic  element  in 
medieval  history.  The 
empire  of  Rome  in 
western  Europe  had 
been  overthrown  by 
invasions  of  German 
tribes,  and  the  Italian 
had  since  that  time 
justly  conceived  of  northern  Europe  as  Germanic,  or  as  he 
termed  it,  using  the  name  of  one  German  tribe  for  all — 
'^Gothic." 

In  our  days  the  memory  that  medieval  Spain  dates  from 
the  invasions  of  Visigothic  Germans,  that  medieval  France 
dates  from  the  invasion  of  Prankish  and  Burgundian  Ger- 
mans, is  not  so  distinct,  unless  it  be  to  the  professional  his- 


FiG.  18. — Early  French  Renaissance.  (Engaged 
classic  columns.)    Chateau  d'Usson  at 
Echebrune. 


56 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


torian,  as  it  was  to  the  Italian  of  the  fourteenth  and  fif- 
teenth centuries.  He  knew  well  that  the  desolation,  bar- 
barism, pillage,  and  downfall  that  had  overwhelmed  Ro- 
man Europe  and  his  own  country  in  the  fifth  century  after 
Christ,  were  the  work  of  the  ' '  Goths, "  as  he  termed  them. 
Both  the  West-Goths  (Visigoths)  and  East-Goths  (Ostro- 
goths) had  actually  pillaged  Italy,  and  although  she  had 
suffered  more  from  the  barbaric  Lombard  Germans  who 
subsequently  settled  there,  the  word  ''Goth"  kept  alive  the 
memory  of  all  these  injuries.  The  very  word  ''Gothic,'* 
as  still  applied  to  northern  architecture,  was  originally  used 
by  the  Italians  and  used  by  them  as  a  term  of  reproach  and 
contempt,  as  we  should  say  "  barbarian."* 

For  Italian  conception  the  Middle  Age  was  "Gothic," 
that  is  to  say  Germanic,  in  origin  and  character.  When  the 
period  of  barbarism,  or  of  depressed  civilization,  in  Italy  had 
been  lived  down ;  when  refinement,  culture,  and  prosperity 
had  returned,  two  results  were  natural — a  revived  interest 
in  that  national  past,  of  the  time  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
when  refinement,  culture,  and  prosperity  had  also  prevailed; 
and  a  consciousness  of  national  superiority  to  the  ruder 
and  rougher  traits  of  contemporary  northern  Europe. 

With  wealth  and  leisure  came  the  cultivation  of  liter- " 
ary  tastes  and  habits;  the  language  of  the  Italian  was  itself 
a  modified  Latin,  and  to  him  the  study  of  the  ancient  Latin 
offered  no  great  difficulties.  The  learning  which  had  so 
far  slumbered  in  the  monasteries  or  which  had  been  con- 
fined to  superior  prelates  of  the  church,  was  opened  to  the 
laity  and  the  nation  at  large. 

Italian  poets  and  authors  like  Dante,  Petrarch,  and  Boc- 
caccio, had  already  in  the  fourteenth  century  awakened  a 
taste  for  reading,  but  they  did  not  suffice  to  meet  the  pop- 

*"  Roman  and  Medieval  Art,"  p.  159. 


Philosophy  of  Renaissance  Architecture,  57 


ular  demand.  The  Latin  authors  were  now  at  hand  to 
meet  it.  National  patriotism,  the  revived  memory  of  an- 
cient glories  when  Rome  and  Italy  had  led  the  world,  com- 
bined with  that  appreciation  for  the  refinement,  simplicity, 
and  vigor  of  the  ancient  Latin  literature  which  has  always 
since  been  felt  by  the  cultivated  man  of  letters  and  which 
the  Italian  felt  most  warmly  because  he  felt  it  first. 

It  is  difficult,  when  the  study  of  Latin  has  become  the 
bugbear  of  the  schoolboy,  the  ungrateful  task  of  most 
college  students,  and  the  rapidly  abandoned  burden  of  the 
college  graduate,  to  realize  the  enthusiasm  of  the  time 
when  people  studied  Latin  because  they  liked  it  and  not 
because  they  were  forced  to  it.  Notwithstanding,  all  our 
Latin  studies,  as  pursued  in  modern  colleges,  are  an  inherit- 
ance from  the  Italian  Renaissance. 

To  say  that  Roman  history  and  literature  were  studied 
critically  would  be  saying  too  much,  but  they  were  studied 
enthusiastically,  which  was  something  better.  More  than 
this,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  fund  of  actual  science 
and  actual  information  was  a  narrow  and  limited  one  in  the 
fifteenth  century  as  compared  with  ours.  There  were  not 
then  a  multitude  of  school  geometries  borrowed  from 
Euclid's  to  take  the  place  of  Euclid.  The  astronomy  and 
geography  which  led  to  the  discovery  of  America  were 
studied  in  Ptolemy.  Pliny  was,  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
a  more  important  authority  in  natural  history  than  he 
is  to-day.  As  for  the  history  of  antiquity,  that  which  we 
learn  now  from  a  hundred  modern  authors,  was  learned 
then  at  first  hand  from  those  ancient  originals,  which  the 
later  modern  authors  have  worked  over  for  our  use,  and 
which  we  can  now  more  easily  afford  to  ignore. 

There  were  no  Gibbons  and  Mommsens  in  the  fifteenth 
century.    The  ' '  knowledge  of  the  ancients ' '  was  no  empty 


58 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


phrase  to  an  Italian  of  that  time.  Much  or  most  that  he 
knew  himself,  he  was  forced  to  learn  from  them.  The 
Latin  authors,  therefore,  were  not  studied  then  as  they  are 
now — as  matter  of  ^ '  literature  ' '  and  simply  for  literary 
style  and  literary  training.  What  they  contained  was  not 
only  worth  knowing,  but  it  was  more  than  the  time  itself 
otherwise  knew. 

These  enthusiasms  of  the  Renaissance  were  emphasized, 
exaggerated,  and  directed  by  the  influence  of  the  learned 
Byzantine  Greeks,  whose  influx  into  Italy  we  have  already 
mentioned  as  a  consequence  of  the  Turkish  conquest  of 
Constantinople  and  the  territories  of  the  Byzantine  Empire. 

The  stamp  of  the  Renaissance  was,  therefore,  a  literary 
' '  craze, ' '  fully  justified  and  explained  by  the  history  of  the 
time,  but  curiously  eccentric  in  many  of  its  outward  mani- 
festations. The  giving  of  Latin  names  to  children,  the 
Latinizing  of  one's  own  name,  were  a  constant  occurrence. 
We  are  told  by  the  greatest  historian  of  the  Renaissance,* 
that  a  pope  of  the  fifteenth  century,  who  was  engaged  in 
war  wdth  the  State  of  Naples,  spared  the  town  of  Arpinum 
from  sack  because  it  had  been  the  birthplace  of  Cicero. 
Another  strange  story  concerns  a  conspiracy  in  Milan,  where 
it  appeared  on  the  trial  of  the  conspirators  that  they  had 
carefully  studied  the  Catiline  of  Sallust  before  laying  their 
plans.  Burckhardt  also  mentions  the  diplomatic  contro- 
troversy  between  the  States  of  Florence  and  Naples,  which 
was  ultimately  settled  by  the  transfer  from  Florence  to 
Naples  of  the  finest  copy  of  Virgil  in  the  possession  of  the 
former  state.  We  have  also  the  well-known  fact  regarding 
the  discovery  of  the  Laocoon  group  of  statuary  now*  in  the 
Vatican,  that  Pope  Julius  II.  awarded  the  owner  of  the 
ground  on  which  it  was  found  an  annuity  not  only  payable 

*  Burckhardt,  "  Civilization  of  the  Renaissance  in  Italy" 


Philosophy  of  Renaissance  Architecture,  59 


for  life  but  hereditary  in  the  family.  This  extraordinary 
reward  appears  to  have  been  mainly  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
group  is  mentioned  by  Pliny  as  having  been  considered  the 
finest  work  of  sculpture  in  ancient  Rome. 

Nor  did  this  '  'craze' '  stop  at  literature  or  at  eccentricities 
which  have  an  obvious  literary  bearing.  The  re-awakened 
sense  for  form  and  elegance,  the  dawning  distaste  for  the 
grotesque  but  imaginative  art  of  the  Middle  Ages,  did  not 
stop  with  exalting  Virgil  at  the  expense  of  Chaucer,  or  with 
preferring  Cicero  and  Plato  to  the  medieval  theologians. 
It  applied  its  own  studies  in  anatomy  and  in  sculpture  to 
the  appreciation  of  the  antique  statues,  which  after  1500 
were  rapidly  brought  to  light  from  the  piles  of  rubbish  and 
of  ruined  buildings  which  had  covered  them  in  Rome.  At 


Fig.  19. — Renaissance  Fifteenth  Century  Decorative  Details,  borrowed  from 
Greco-Roman.   From  a  tomb  in  S,  Maria  del  Popolo,  Rome. 


6o 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


a  still  earlier  date  the  few  ancient  statues  which  were  known 
in  Florence  and  in  Padua  were  highly  valued.  Lorenzo 
Medici  founded  in  Florence  a  studio  garden  for  sculptors' 
studies  and  the  display  of  ancient  statuary  (later  part  of  the 
fifteenth  century) ;  and  the  anatomists  of  the  University  of 
Padua  had  their  due  influence  on  the  interest  which  Man- 
tegna  and  Squarcione  devoted  to  ancient  art. 

The  influence  of  the  Torso  Belvedere  of  Hercules  now 
in  the  Vatican,  on  the  studies  of  Michael  Angelo  is  well  at- 
tested. It  is  said  that  in  extreme  old  age,  when  eyesight 
failed  him,  he  still  caused  himself  to  be  led  to  this  fragment 
that  he  might  feel  and  touch  it.  In  a  similar  way  the  frag- 
ments of  ancient  wall  painting  in  the  ruins  of  the  Baths  of 
Titus  furnished  the  motives  and  suggestions  which  Raphael 
elaborated  in  the  decoration  of  the  Loggie  of  the  Vatican. 

Among  all  these  instances  of  enthusiasm  for  the  ancients, 
it  was  natural  that  architecture  should  have  its  place  and 
share.  Hence  the  architectural  style  of  the  Renaissance, 
as  copy  of  ^he  constructional  forms  and  ornamental  details 
of  the  Roman  ruins. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


RENAISSANCE  ARCHITECTURE  IN  THEORY    AND  IN 
PRACTICE. 

According  to  the  archaeologic  and  critical  antiquarian 
views  of  our  own  day,  an  ancient  building  can  onFy  be  said 
to  be  copied  when  it  is  imitated  entire.  But  this  anxious 
and  literal  point  of  view  did  not  worry  the  architects  of  the 
Renaissance. 

We  have  seen  that  civilization  as  a  whole  in  Italy  could 
not  be,  and  was  not,  a  revival  of  the  ancient;  however 
much  it  learned  from  it  and  admired  it,  however  much  the 
ideal  of  an  actual  revival  might  have  been  believed  in  by  its 
enthusiasts.  The  actual  prosperity,  the  actual  industries, 
and  the  actual  people  were  and  remained  Italian  of  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  not  Roman  of  the  first  or 
second  century. 

In  Renaissance  architecture  we  are  not  dealing  in  any 
sense  with  a  revival  of  Roman  architecture.  We  are  only 
dealing  with  an  imitation  of  Roman  forms  applied  to 
modern  buildings.  This  distinction  between  Renaissance 
and  Roman  architecture  is  one  of  supreme  importance,  and 
for  the  very  reason  that  Roman  borrowed  designs  and 
forms  were  so  exclusively  used. 

Rome  had  left  ruins  of  temples,  amphitheatres,  public 
baths,  basilicas,  and  triumphal  arches.  The  Italians  were 
building  churches,  villas,  palaces,  and  mansions.  The 
general  modern  use  and  modern  appearance  of  these  Italian 

6i 


62 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


buildings  are  perfectly  obvious  to  us.  No  one  could  ever 
mistake  them  for  Roman  buildings.  This  was  one  of  their 
merits,  but  it  sometimes  leaves  a  beginner  in  doubt  as  to 
what  makes  a  building  ' '  Renaissance. ' '  The  only  way  out 
of  this  difficulty  is  a  wide  familiarity  with  the  details  of 
classic  Roman  architecture.  The  application  of  any  such 
detail  to  any  modern  building  is  ' '  Renaissance ' ' ;  provided 
we  are  not  dealing  with  the  literal  and  exact  imitations  of 


Fig.  20.— French  Renaissance  Pediment  and  Entablature ;  Roman 
Doric  ("Tuscan")  details.    Hotel  Colbert.  Paris. 

the  original  Greek  temples  and  temple  forms  which  did  not 
come  in  vogue  until  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
Since  that  time  Renaissance  traits  are  often  found  in  build- 
ings which  are  also  under  the  influence  of  this  Greek  re- 
vival; to  be  subsequently  considered. 

There  was  the  widest  variety  of  appearance  and  structure 
in  the  buildings  of  the  time;  it  is  only  by  their  details,  the 
fashion  of  their  ornament,  and  the  method  of  its  application, 
that  we  are  able  to  date  and  recognize  them.  Sometimes 
the  cornice  of  the  building,  the  arcades  of  its  interior  court, 


Renaissance  Architecture  in  Theory  and  Practice,  63 


or  the  pediment  of  a  door,  or  a  window  here  and  there,  are 
the  only  indications.  Certainly  the  only  satisfactory  study 
of  the  subject  is  that  which  makes  clear  what  was  done 
and  what  was  not  done  before  the  Renaissance  began.  In 
other  words,  the  best  and  only  real  basis  for  a  knowledge  of 
this  subject  is  a  fair  acquaintance  with  the  architecture  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  and  the  ability  to  know  things  by  know- 
ing what  they  are  not. 

It  may  be  added,  however,  unfortunately,  that  the  versa- 
tility and  variety  of  early  Renaissance  buildings  have  not 
been  perpetuated  by  the  nineteenth  century  use  of  the  saine 
style,  and  the  earmarks  of  the  style  in  these  later  phases 
are  tolerably  easy  to  recognize. 


Fig.  21 — Early  French  Renaissance.    Viviers.    "Engaged"  Classic  Columns. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


CRITICISM  OF  RENAISSANCE  ARCHITECTURE. 

There  was  undoubtedly  in  Italy  at  the  time  that  this 
style  was  introduced,  a  wide  development  of  villa  and  pal- 
ace construction  with  certain  general  arrangements  peculiar 
to  the  country  and  the  time,  but  these  arrangements  as  re- 
gards detail  would  come  within  the  province  of  the  student 
of  domestic  economy  or  of  social  life  rather  than  under  the 
notice  of  the  critic  of  art.  Each  country  of  Europe  had 
likewise  its  own  methods  of  arrangement  and  construction, 
and  each  adopted  the  one  ornamental  style  from  Italy,  just 
as  Italy  had  adopted  the  one  ornamental  style  from  the 
ruins  of  Rome.  In  France,  for  instance,  one  dominant 
type  of  building  was  a  country  seat  evolved  from  the  older 
feudal  castle.  In  Germany,  houses  which  are  palpably  con- 
tinuations of  the  medieval  fashions  were  veneered  with 
Italian  ornament. 

It  follows  that  when  we  face  the  historic  monuments  we 
have  to  deal  rather  with  a  period  than  a  ' '  style, ' '  at  least 
so  far  as  similarities  of  construction  are  concerned. 

In  order  then  to  specify  ' '  Renaissance ' '  traits  one  needs 
simply  the  ability  to  distinguish  the  ' '  Orders ' '  of  the  Greeks 
as  they  were  used  by  the  Romans  ;  the  Tuscan  Doric,  the 
Ionic,  and  the  Corinthian  (with  its  bastard  variant,  the 
Composite).  One  needs  to  be  familiar  with  the  divisions 
of  architrave,  and  frieze,  and  cornice,  and  the  peculiar  de- 
tails allotted  to  each  member  according  to  the  Doric  and 

64 


Criticism  of  Renaissance  Architecture, 


65 


Ionic  methods  respectively.*  One  needs  sufificient  famili- 
arity with  ornamental  patterns  to  know  the  stamp  of  a  clas- 
sic design.  Otherwise  a  knowledge  of  the  Italian  Renais- 
sance architecture  is  a  knowledge  of  special  historic  build- 
ings, of  individual  examples;  above  all  a  knowledge  of  the 
distinctions  between  better  and  worse,  early  and  late,  which 
are  to  the  student  of 
history  the  most  inter- 
esting reflex  of  the 
general  changes  in  his- 
toric life. 

There  is,  however, 
one  matter  of  especial 
importance  to  the  crit- 
icism of  Renaissance 
art,  viz. :  a  knowledge 
of  the  general  attitude 
of  modern  criticism  to 
the  Roman  architec- 
ture which  was  copied. 

It  is  a  well  estab- 
lished canon  of  criti- 
cism that  the  appli- 
cation made  by  the 
Romans  of  Greek  ele- 
ments of  construction 
to  purposes  of  ornament  without  reference  to  constructive 
meaning,  was  a  departure  from  Greek  ideals  of  art  and  from 
the  theoretic  ideal  of  art  in  general.  According  to  these 
ideals  the  first  mission  of  form  is  to  express  and  convey 
its  use. 

A  column,  therefore,  which  was  devised  as  a  means  of 


UJUOJ 


Fig.  22. — Architectural  Renaissance  Details  fram- 
ing a  Madonna  Relief  by  Mino  da  Fiesole.  At 
Fiesole  near  Florence.  Fifteenth  Century. 


"  Compare  "Greek  Architecture  and  Sculpture,"  Chautauqua  Series. 


66 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


support,  allowing  of  intervening  open  spaces,  is  ,not  a 
thoroughly  appropriate  decorative  member  as  applied  to  a 
solid  wall,  where  intervening  spaces  are  not  desired.  The 
significance  of  a  capital  is  to  emphasize  by  ornament  the 
point  of  pressu<p,  of  a  base,  to  emphasize  by  ornament  the 
point  of  support,  of  a  cornice,  to  emphasize  by  ornament 
the  roof  line.  The  significance  of  a  division  between 
' '  architrave ' '  and  ' '  frieze ' '  is  the  existence  of  an  actual 
stone  lintel  supporting  another  lintel,  both  destined  to  sup- 
port the  ceiling  of  a  portico.  When  these  various  mem- 
bers are  simply  imi- 
tative carvings  on  a 
solid  surface  to  which 
they  bear  no  relation 
of  ornamental  empha- 
sis, they  have  in  so  far 
lost  their  meaning. 

For  the  Romans 
themselves,  who  in 
many  other  ways 
lacked  the  higher  re- 
finement of  the  earlier 
Greeks,  we  have  a  his- 
toric point  of  view 
which  does  not  de- 
mand that  they  should 
have  been  more  than 
they  were.  Moreover, 
we  know  that  although 
they  frequently  over- 
looked the  theoretic 
principle  in  question,  they  did  not  do  so  at  the  expense 
of  general  effects  of  construction.    Their  construction  was 


Fig.  23. — Early  French  Renaissance,  "Engaged" 
Columns  and  Entablature.    Church  at  Gisors. 


Criticism  of  Renaissance  Architecture,  67 


solid,  massive,  powerful,  and  imposing,  and  their  use  of 
the  Greek  colonnades  in  surface  ornament  was  not  such  as 
to  impair  these  effects,  and  was  in  its  way  certainly  deco- 
rative and  picturesque.    In  other  words  they  essentially, 


Fig.  24. — Ancient  Roman  Ruin.    Theatre  of  Marcellus,  showing  "Engaged" 
Columns  and  Entablature. 


according  to  their  own  needs  and  character,  built  sensibly 
and  artistically,  without  claiming  or  showing  the  higher 
refinement  of  the  Greeks,  whose  forms  they  adopted  and 
used.^ 

For  the  architecture  of  the  early  Renaissance  we  are 
again  obliged  to  make  the  concession  due  to  common  sense 
and  to  history,  as  regards  the  use  of  the  ' '  engaged ' '  col- 
umns and  entablatures.    As  for  the  Italians  themselves,  it 

*  For  the  critical  objections  to  Roman  methods  of  ornament,  see  Viollet  le  Due's 
"  Discourses  on  Architecture,"  translated  by  Van  Brunt. 


68 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


must  be  remembered  also  that  they  were  unacquainted  with 
ancient  Greek  architecture,  which  first  came  into  notice  in 
the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  (At  this  late 
date  men  of  learning  in  Rome  were  planning  an  explora- 
tion of  southern  Italy  to  study  the  Greek  ruins  supposed  to 
be  there,  as  remains  of  the  old  Greek  colonies  of  south 
Italy.  As  late  as  the  eighteenth  century  it  was  not  known 
that  the  Greek  ruins  at  Paestum  were  the  only  ones,  and  this 
shows  how  recently  they  had  then  attracted  attention. )  The 
virtues  of  early  Renaissance  buildings,  like  those  of  the 
Romans,  are  also  superior  to  the  theoretic  objection  to  the 
*  *  engaged ' '  columns  and  entablatures  based  on  the  origi- 
nal use  and  meaning  of  the  Greek  colonnade.  The  deli- 
cacy and  vigor  of  their  ornament,  the  large  effects  of  mass 
and  surface,  and  the  practical  adherence  to  constructive  ap- 
pearance, are  worthy  of  all  praise  in  the  early  Renaissance. 

It  is  in  the  decadence  of  the  Renaissance  that  we  find 
cause  especially  to  regret  the  use  of  the  ^  ^  engaged ' ' 
column,  simulated  entablature  and  pediment — above  all, 
when  their  influence  on  our  own  modern  standards  of  taste 
is  considered. 

In  this  decadence  the  wall  column  and  associated  features 
became  a  mania,  a  tedious  repetition,  a  mechanical  and  life- 
less formula.  The  influence  of  this  decadence  is  shown 
in  many  of  our  American  Renaissance  buildings,  which 
must  be  judged  and  condemned  accordingly. 

The  one  objectionable  feature  of  the  Renaissance  style 
was  that  it  tended  to  divorce  the  system  of  ornament  from 
the  system  of  construction;  not  only  because  one  was 
ancient  and  the  other  was  modern,  but  also  because  the 
Romans  themselves  had  admitted  the  opening  wedge  in 
this  direction.  When  this  divorce  had  been  finally  effected 
there  was  no  bound  to  the  license  of  arbitrary  forms  and 


Criticism  of  Renaissance  Architecture. 


69 


lines.  The  effect  on  modern  taste  of  the  later  Renaissance 
decadence  was  to  obliterate  the  perception  that  a  general 
correspondence  between  form  and  use,  a  correspondence 
in  which  ornament  is  consequently  used  to  emphasize  or 
indicate  construction,  is  the  only  standard  admissible  in  the 
strict  criticism  of  buildings,  furniture,  and  utensils. 

Generally  speaking,  the  division  of  dates  already  fixed  by 
the  downfall  of  the  Italian  Free-states  marks  the  time  when 
the  decadence  first  began  (1530).  It  showed  itself  in  the 
later  part  of  the  sixteenth  century  mainly  by  a  colder  and 
more  mechanical  exe- 
cution of  decorative 
details,  by  a  more 
formal  and  rigid  ap- 
plication of  the  ''Or- 
ders ' '  to  wall  surfaces. 
In  the  early  Renais- 
sance the  ornamental 
scroll-work  is  more 
elastic  and  spirited,  the 
carving  of  details  is 
bolder  and  finer,  the 
relief  of  the  projected 
columns  and  entab- 
latures is  lower. 

The  higher  the  pro- 
jection and  relief  of  the 
' '  engaged ' '  columns 
and   pediments,  the 

later  the  date.      In  late  Fig.  25.-Cathedral  of  Versailles. 

Renaissance  the  feeling  Eighteenth  Century. 

of  the   architect   was   more   fretful,    more  anxious  for 

effect,  less  suggestive  of  reserve  and  power.     For  the 


70 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


higher  and  more  numerous  the  projections  of  the  ornament, 
the  deeper  and  more  numerous  the  shadows.  These  shad- 
ows again,  when  not  determined  by  construction,  detract 
from  the  effects  of  mass  and  the  repose  and  power  of  the 
main  lines  and  surfaces  of  the  building. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  there  was  an  ever-increasing 
tendency  to  multiply  the  breaks  of  surface  and  of  outline, 
often  of  so  bold  and  so  forceful  design  that  it  is  difficult  not 
to  admire,  even  when  we  feel  disposed  to  criticise  or  at  least 
to  withhold  approval.  On  the  whole,  delicacy,  refinement, 
and  repose  distinguish  the  early  Renaissance  (before  1530). 
On  the  whole,  picturesque  license,  bold  but  arbitrary  out- 
lines, and  cold  and  mechanical  details,  distinguish  the 
seventeenth  century. 

The  eighteenth  century  continued  in  the  same  tendencies 
until  the  ' '  Greek  Revival '  *  at  its .  close  reacted  against 
them,  and  for  a  time  displaced  them  by  a  more  formal, 
more  ' '  correct, ' '  though  colder,  and  perhaps  equally  me- 
chanical, resurrection  of  the  original  Greek  forms.  The 
force  of  the  above  remarks  regarding  the  relation  of  style 
to  period  will  be  considerably  strengthened  if  the  reader 
will  immediately  proceed  to  compare  in  bulk  the  illustra- 
tions for  Chapter  X.  (fifteenth  century)  with  those  for 
Chapter  XII.  (seventeenth  century).  The  illustrations  for 
Chapter  XI.  (sixteenth  century)  will  relate,  as  the  case 
may  be,  and  according  to  comparative  dates,  either  to  the 
fifteenth  or  seventeenth  century  as  regards  tendencies. 

In  spite  of  the  above  distinctions  and  gradations  of  Re- 
naissance style,  as  between  the  fifteenth  and  eighteenth  cen- 
turies inclusive,  we  are  also  obliged  to  admit  that  as  late  as 
the  eighteenth  century  bold  and  powerful  composition  was 
still  generally  practiced  and  that  our  own  nineteenth  cen- 
tury Renaissance  has  been,  generally  speaking,  the  weakest 


Criticism  of  Renaissance  Architecture.  7 1 


Fig.  26.-  Palace  Poli,  and  Fountain  of  Trevi.    Rome.    Eighteenth  Century. 


of  all,  both  in  composition  and  detail.  The  exceptions  to 
this  rule  are  mainly  recent,  and  dating  from  the  revival  of 
architectural  taste  visible  in  the  later  nineteenth  century. 

The  general  course  of  evolution  in  Italian  architecture 
which  we  have  just  sketched  corresponds,  it  should  be  ob- 
served, to  a  similar  evolution  which  can  be  verified  for  the 
Gothic,  Roman  and  Greek  styles.  All  began  with  simplic- 
ity, vigor,  and  power — all  tended  to  become  more  elaborate, 
ornamental,  and  picturesque — all  ended  in  complexity,  rel- 
ative weakness,  over-elaboration,  and  straining  for  effect. 

It  should  also  be  observed  that  the  history  of  Italian 
painting  and  Italian  sculpture  illustrates  a  parallel  and  sim- 
ilar development,  a  parallel  and  similar  decline. 


CHAPTER  X. 


HISTORIC  SKETCH  OF  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  RENAISSANCE 
ARCHITECTURE. 

Brunellesco  of  Florence  is  universally  quoted  as  the 
first  great  architect  of  the  Renaissance  (1377-1446).  His 
greatest  achievement  was  the  dome  of  the  Florence  Cathe- 
dral.* The  building  itself  was  begun  a  century  and  a  half 
earlier.  The  details  specifying  the  dawning  style  of  the  new 
period  are  here  confined  to  the  lantern,  or  small  crowning 
member,  which  he  did  not  live  to  finish,  and  this  dome  is 
consequently  rather  significant  for  his  engineering  and 
constructive  ability  and  his  general  architectural  science 
than  for  points  illustrative  of  the  traits  which  we  have  so  far 
discussed. 

Let  it  be  remembered  now,  therefore,  that  these  traits  are 
not  in  themselves  the  first  claim  of  the  early  Renaissance 
architects  to  distinction.  It  was  their  talent  in  construction 
which  made  them  great.  The  ornamental  fashion  of  their 
time  is  a  matter  of  interest,  and  the  way  in  which  they  used 
it  is  a  matter  of  interest,  but  the  whole  is  greater  than  its 
parts,  and  these  must  be  considered  in  their  relation  to  the 
whole.  Where  the  Renaissance  details  appear  it  is  still  by 
constructive  appearance  and  by  their  relation  to  con- 
structive appearance  that  the  building  must  be  judged. 

The  dome  of  the  Florence  Cathedral  is  especially  mem- 
orable as  having  been   the  predecessor  of  St.  Peter's 

*"  Roman  and  Medieval  Art,"  p.  210  and  Fig.  125. 

72 


Historic  Sketch  of  Fifteenth  Century  Architecture.  73 


dome  at  Rome,  and  Michael  Angelo  himself  attributed  his 
ability  to  plan  the  construction  of  the  latter  to  the  lesson 
and  methods  of  the  Florentine  dome,  which  was  slightly 
larger  than  St.  Peter's,  although  not  raised  so  high  above 
the  ground.  It  is  significant  for  the  difficulty  of  Brunel- 
lesco's  task  that  no 
architect  had  been 
found  for  a  century 
and  a  half  who  was 
willing  to  attempt  it. 

In  two  churches  of 
Florence,  San  Lorenzo 
and  San  Spirito,  we 
are  able  more  clearly 
to  specify  the  Renais- 
sance decorative  ele- 
ment. As  far  as  the 
illustrations  carry  us 
(Figs.  27,  28)  this 
element  will  simply  lie 
in  the  ' '  Corinthian  ' ' 
columns  and  capitals, 
the  sections  of  classic 
architrave  and  frieze 
used  as  an  impost  above  them,  in  the  profiles  and  orna- 
mental treatment  of  the  lines  of  arches,  in  the  wall  pilas- 
ters and  Ionic  architrave  of  the  aisles  of  San  Lorenzo  and 
in  the  classic  columns,  entablatures,  and  small  door  pedi- 
ment seen  at  the  farther  end  of  this  church.  These  are  all 
imitations  of  Roman  classic  forms. 

It  will  illustrate  the  constant  departure  of  the  Renais- 
sance from  its  supposed  models  to  observe  here  that  such 
an  impost  imitating  a  section  of  architrave  and  frieze,  as 


Fig.  27. — Church  of  San  Lorenzo,  Florence. 
By  Brunellesco,  1425. 


74 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


appears  in  these  churches,  is  not  once  found  in  Roman  art; 
but  that  it  is  here  imitated  from  the  projecting  section  of 
architrave  and  frieze  visible  on  Roman  triumphal  arches, 
where  it  is  always  attached  on  the  rear  side  to  a  wall  sur- 


FiG.  28. — Church  of  San  Spirito,  Florence.    After  the  design  of  Brunellesco, 


face.*  In  the  same  way  it  may  be  noticed  that  the  classic 
column  always  supports  a  straight  lintel;  never  an  arch,  as 
here.  This  use  of  the  column  and  arch  continues  that  of 
the  Italian  church  basilicas  which  had  never  been  entirely 
abandoned. 

We  may  also  find  in  these  church  interiors,  suggestive 
contrasts  with  interiors  of  the  contemporary  northerr^ 
Gothic  or  preceding  Italian  Gothic. 

?  As,  for  instance,  Fig.  33,  "  Roman  and  Medieval  Art." 


Historic  Sketch  of  Fifteenth  Century  Architecture.  75 


The  Italian  Gothic  had  already  broken  with  the  lofty- 
naves  of  the  North  in  favor  of  what  may  be  called  calmer 
and  more  rational  proportions.  This  tendency  now  asserts 
itself  still  more  distinctly.  A  church  interior  of  consider- 
ably later  date  (Fig.  29)  may  be  used  with  these  to  illus- 
trate some  of  the  correspondences  and  contrasts  of  Re- 
naissance churches  with  earlier  ones.*  The  correspond- 
ences lie  in  general  arrangements  and  general  plans;  the 
distinctions  lie  in  proportion  and  ornamental  details. 

It  appears  from  these  views  that  the  general  plan  of  older 
churches  was  retained 
as  regards  nave  and 
aisles,  clerestory,  and 
choir.  They  will  also 
show  that  Renaissance 
churches  frequently, 
though  not  constantly, 
returned  to  the  basilica 
use  of  columns  as  dis- 
tinct from  piers,  t  and 
also  that  they  fre- 
quently vaulted  such 
churches  when  using 
columnar  supports, 
which  the  medieval 
church  basilicas  never 
did.  Flat  timber  ceil- 
ings were  also  used. 
This  is  the  case  with 
the  naves  of  the  Florentine  churches,  San  Lorenzo,  and 
San  Spirito,  while  the  aisles  are  vaulted. 

*  For  these  Gothic  interiors  see  "  Roman  and  Medieval  Art." 
t  For  this  distinction,  see  "  Roman  and  Medieval  Art,"  p.  145. 


76 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


An  immediate  contrast  by  the  reader,  of  San  Lorenzo 
with  St.  Peter's  interior  (Fig.  42)  will  probably  be  the 
best  means  of  understanding  how  Renaissance  style  is  de- 
fined by  ornamental  details,  rather  than  by  similarities  of 
construction.  In  this  latter  church,  we  find  a  vaulted  ceil- 
ing and  heavy  pier  supports  as  distinct  from  the  timber 
ceiling  and  the  arch  and  column.  But  the  pilasters  and 
columns,  capitals,  entablatures,  cornices,  and  ornamental 
details  are  classic  in  both  cases,  and  in  these  it  is  that  the 
Renaissance  distinctive  quality  appears. 

It  is  generally  admitted  that  the  churches  of  the  early 
Renaissance  are,  comparatively  speaking,  less  interesting 
monuments  than  its  palaces,  mansions,  and  villas.  As 
contrasted  with  the  mysterious,  romantic,  and  picturesque 
cathedrals  of  the  Middle  Age,  which  were  still  being  built 
at  this  time  in  northern  Europe,  they  cannot  claim  an  equal 
interest;  although  their  sense  of  proportion  and  of  system 
is  a  most  interesting  illustration  of  the  modern  spirit  of 
fifteenth  century  Italy.  Aside  from  Florence,  the  most 
usually  quoted  early  churches  of  the  period,  in  the  matter 
of  interiors,  are  some  in  Venice;  while  the  Certosa  of  Pavia 
(church  of  the  Carthusian  Monastery)  has  the  most  cele- 
brated facade.    This  dates  from  1473. 

In  the  matter  of  dates  we  shall  do  well  to  notice  those  of 
San  Lorenzo  (1425)  and  San  Spirito  (after  1446)  as  fixing 
the  time  of  early  beginnings  of  the  style  in  general. 

Before  speaking  of  the  palaces  of  this  period  we  will  still 
confine  ourselves  to  the  name  of  Brunellesco,  as  repre- 
sented by  a  door  of  the  cloister  of  the  Church  of  Santa 
Croce  in  Florence  (Fig.  30). 

In  this  door  we  become  more  definitely  aware  of  the 
ornamental  features  of  the  Renaissance.  We  have  here 
the  entire  Renaissance  system  as  far  as  one  view  may  illus- 


Historic  Sketch  of  Fifteenth  Century  Architecture.  77 


trate  it — the  antique  border  of  scroll  work  framing  the 
door,  the  antique  columns  and  entablature  with  its  divisions 
of  architrave,  frieze,  and  cornice,  the  latter  decorated  with 
egg-and-dart  mouldings,  and  the  surmounting  curvilinear 
Roman  variant  of  the  gable-shaped  pediment. 

All  of  these  details  were  borrowed  by  Brunellesco  from 
some  ruin  of  Rome,  in 
which  city  he  is  known 
to  have  zealously 
sketched  and  studied 
the  ruins.  The  relief 
of  the  saint  and  cher- 
ubs, the  cupids  hold- 
ing the  crest,  and  the 
medallion  portraits  be- 
side it,  are  of  course 
Renaissance  additions, 
but  the  entire  compo- 
sition considered  as  a 
door  is  also  quite  un- 
familiar to  us  as  a  copy 
of  anything  Roman. 
No  similar  Roman 
doorway  can  be  quoted. 
Our  nearest  parallel  in 
Roman  art  would  be  the  framing  of  a  niche  for  a  statue, 
and  it  is  most  likely  that  the  entablature,  with  the  columns 
and  the  arc  above  them,  were  borrowed  from  separate 
buildings  (neither  of  them  from  a  door),  and  recombined 
according  to  a  suggestion  obtained  from  a  niche. 

This  case  will  illustrate  the  whole  system  on  which  the 
Renaissance  architects  worked,  and  the  very  freedom  and 
independence  of  these  adaptations  are  their  greatest  charm. 


Fig.  30. — Doorway  of  the  Cloister  of  Santa 
Croce.   Florence.    By  Brunellesco. 


78 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


The  distinction  which  I  have  already  emphasized  in  general 
between  Roman  architecture  and  Renaissance  copies,  is 
thus  illustrated  by  a  special  example.  An  infinite  number 
of  such  comparisons  might  be  instituted. 

We  shall  now  turn  for  a  moment  to  a  window  decoration 

of  somewhat  later 
date  in  Venice,  in 
order  to  consider  its 
typical  relation  to 
the  doorway.  The 
same  elements  of 
antique  detail  are 
in  question,  al- 
though we  cannot 
specify  any  antique 
window  similarly 
treated.  A  niche 
framing,  or  even  the 
front  of  an  entire 
Roman  temple,  may 
be  considered  as  the 
original  suggestion. 
At  all  events,  we 
have  in  these  two 
pediment  forms 
(curvilinear  and  tri- 
angle) the  motives  which  ultimately  became  a  mania  in  the 
later  Renaissance,  and  whose  endless  repetitions  and  vari- 
ations ultimately  became  so  tedious  (Figs.  45-53,  inclusive). 

What  I  wish  to  point  out  now  for  the  earlier  Renaissance 
(at  least  down  to  1520),  is  its  reticence  in  the  use  of  these 
pediments.  Confined  to  interiors  and  courts,  they  are 
sparingly  used  even  there.    On  the  fa9ades  and  exteriors 


Fig.  31. 


-Window  Pediment  of  the  Doge's  Palace. 
Venice.   By  Pietro  Lombardo. 


Historic  Sketch  of  Fifteenth  Century  Architecture.  79 


of  buildings  they  are  unknown  at  this  time.  Their  first 
appearance  and  widest  use  at  this  time  are  for  the  frame- 
work of  decorative  tablets,  tomb-reliefs,  shrines,  and  the 
like.  For  such  uses,  the  curvilinear  pediment  was  the 
ruling  one. 

The  later  introduction  of  these  pediments  into  exte- 
rior architecture  was  gradual  and  tentative.  The  same 
point,  though  in  a  less  emphatic  degree,  holds  of  the  ' '  en- 
gaged ' '  columns  and  entablatures,  which  appear  in  exteriors 
at  an  earlier  date.  It  is,  however,  in  tombs,  tablets,  shrines, 
and  the  like,  that  they 
are  most  constantly 
and  universally  found 
for  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. 

My  best  illustration 
(because  clearest  and 
largest)  for  the  later 
decorative  system  of 
the  Renaissance  in  ex- 
teriors of  buildings  is 
at  this  time  the  detail 
from  the  framing  of  a 
bas-relief  by  Mino  da 
Fiesole  in  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Fiesole,  near 
Florence  (Fig.  22). 
The  reader  would  do 
well  to  carefully  note 
the  correspondences 
and  distinctions  here,  in  comparison  with  types  just  quoted 
— the  same  classic  cornice,  frieze,  architrave,  capital,  and 
column,     The  decorative  details  aa  here  enlarged  should 


Fig.  32.— -Early  Renaissance  Capital. 

church  in  Venice. 


From 


So 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


also  be  carefully  studied — the  egg-and-dart  moulding,  bead 
moulding,  leaf-and-dart  moulding,  and  anthemions.*  On 
the  other  hand,  the  original  and  beautiful  design  of  the 
capital  would  find  no  exact  counterpart  in  ancient  art,  nor 

should  we  be  able  to 
point  to  any  ancient 
anthemions  of  exactly 
similar  design.  A 
similar  remark  applies 
to  our  beautiful  detail 
of  a  capital  from  Venice 
herewith  (Fig.  32). 

It  is  in  these  capi- 
tals, decorative  friezes 
and  relief  ornaments  of 
early  Renaissance  art 
that  we  find  the  most 
original  and  most  beautiful  examples  of  antique  influence. 

None  of  these  decorative  motives  are  slavish  or 
mechanical  copies,  as  our  own  nineteenth  century  designs 
are  apt  to  be;  yet  they  have  all  the  virtues  of  the  best 
antique  designs  ;  the  same  elastic  and  vital  feeling,  the 
same  sense  of  balance  and  proportion.  The  more  our 
modern  ornament  is  studied,  the  more  its  dependence  on 
these  early  Renaissance  decorations,  and  also  its  general 
inferiority  to  them,  is  apparent.  I  have  in  the  illustra- 
tions from  armor,  fowling-pieces,  furniture,  tombs,  house 
interiors,  metal  work,  etc.  (Figs,  i-ii,  inclusive),  given 
some  indications  of  the  all-powerful  influence  of  this  orna- 
ment on  later  history. 

As  an  indication  of  the  early  date  at  which  these  motives 
began  to  make  their  way  to  the  North,  and  as  another 

*  Compare  "  Greek  Architecture  and  Sculpture,"  Chautauqua  Series. 


Historic  Sketch  of  Fifteenth  Century  Architecture,  8i 


Fig.  34. — French  Renaissance  Wood- 
carving.   Chateau  of  Gaillon. 


illustration  of  their  beauty,  we 
call  attention  here  to  the 
tomb  of  the  children  of  the 
French  king,  Charles  VIII., 
at  Tours.  This  king  was  one 
of  those  whose  campaigns  in 
Italy  have  been  mentioned  as 
an  instance  of  the  attractions 
which  Italian  civilization  was 
beginning  to  have  for  the 
North  (Fig.  3). 

The  inventive  and  original 
qualities  of  the  early  Renais- 
sance, as  distinct  from  its  de- 
pendence on  antique  orig- 
inals, are  also  nowhere  so 
easily  illustrated  as  in  its 
ornament  in  wood  carving, 
stone  carving,  terra  cotta 
modelling,  metal  work,  ivory 
carving,  textile  fabrics,  lace, 
velvets,  etc. 

The  vigor  and  variety  of 
these  designs  exhibit  a  rapid 
decline  after  1530.  After  this 
time  they  are  to  be  found  in 
superioi,  or  at  least  equal, 
excellence  (for  the  given 
period)  in  France  or  Ger- 
many, for  the  remainder  of  the 
sixteenth  century  (Fig.  34). 

The  detail  from  the  tomb 
of  the  French  general,  Gaston 


82 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


de  Foix,  who  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Ravenna  in  15 12, 
is  illustrated  as  an  easily  dated  work,  typical  for  hundreds 
and  thousands  of  distinct  yet  similar  designs  (Fig.  33). 

We  have  also  other  earlier  illustrations  typical  for  the 
best  Italian  work  and  influence,  although  some  are  taken 
from  the  art  of  other  countries  (Figs.  10,  14,  19). 

Keeping  to  our  point,  that  tombs,  relief  panels,  decora- 
tive details,  and  interiors  offer  the  first  numerous  class  of 
distinctly  Renaissance  designs  subsequently  typical  for  ex- 
terior architecture,  we  may  turn  to  the  early  Renaissance 
palaces  and  find  our  point  corroborated  here  by  the  fact 
that  the  interior  court  is  generally  the  part  of  the  building 
where  we  can  distinctly  point  to  the  antique  influence. 

On  the  whole,  the  palace  of  the  Dukes  of  Urbino,  the 
birthplace  of  Raphael,  has  the  most  famous  interior  court 

of  the  fifteenth  century 
(Fig-  35)-  The  archi- 
tect was  a  distin- 
guished, though  not 
largely  quoted,  man, 
Luciano  da  Laurana. 
The  photograph  is 
typical  for  the  general 
interior  arrangement  of 
contemporary  Italian 
mansions  and  palaces, 
showing  the  open  ar- 
cade of  the  lower  story 
supported  by  classic  columns.  On  the  second  story  we 
distinguish  the  typical  classic  Roman  wall  pilaster,  but  as 
yet  used  in  low  relief  and  in  modest  fashion.  No  window 
pediments  are  seen. 

The  earliest  fa9ade  which  exhibits  the  classic  wall  pilas- 


FiG.  35.— Court  of  the  Ducal  Palace  at  Urbino. 
Fifteenth  Century. 


Historic  Sketch  of  Fifteenth  Century  Architecture,  83 


ter  is  the  Florentine  Palace  Rucellai  (1446-1451),  a  won- 
derfully simple  and  imposing  composition  (Fig.  36).  The 
architect,  Leon  Bat- 
tista  Alberti,  was  the 
most  famous  of  his 
time,  which  was  that 
of  the  generation  after 
Brunellesco.  His  name 
is  also  a  much  quoted 
one  for  Italian  liter- 
ature and  for  classical 
studies,  aside  from  his 
architectural  capacity. 

In  this  building  we 
notice,  aside  from  the 
harmonious  distri- 
bution of  the  pilasters 
and  entablatures,  the 
extreme  flatness  of 
their  relief,  as  con- 
trasted with  later  Re- 
naissance style,  and  the 
absence  of  window  pediments  (same  contrast),  also  the 
fine  effect  of  the  distinction  given  to  each  block  of  stone 
by  its  projected  setting. 

Others  of  the  most  famous  fifteenth  century  Florentine 
palaces  do  not  show  even  the  modest  amount  of  exterior 
ornament  which  appears  here.  The  most  famous  of  all, 
and  of  all  modern  palaces,  is  the  Palace  Pitti  (Fig.  37) 
dating  from  Brunellesco,  though  not  finished  by  him.  The 
massive  power  and  simplicity  of  this  building  are  beyond 
all  praise.  The  method  of  leaving  to  the  outer  face  of 
each  block  of  stone  a  part  or  all  of  its  natural  rough- 


FiG,  36. — Palace  Rucellai.    Florence.    By  Leon 
Battista  Alberti.   Fifteenth  Century. 


84 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


ness  is  a  means  to  one  of  the  finest  effects  in  architecture, 
and  was  much  employed  by  the  greatest  of  American  archi- 
tects, H.  H.  Richardson,  lately  deceased.  This  method 
was  known  to  the  Italians  as  Rustica  or  rustic  work. 

The  built-in  window  pediments  of  the  lower  story  date 
from  the  following  century,  as  does  the  pilastered  deco- 
ration of  the  rear  of  the  building. 

In  the  front  of  the  Pitti  Palace  we  see  what  effects  are  ob- 


FiG.  37. — Pitti  Palace  by  Brunellesco.    Florence.    Fifteenth  Century. 


tainable  from  simple  rough  masonry;  from  its  contrast  with 
the  plain  door  and  window  openings,  with  the  sequence  of 
arched  openings  and  shadows,  and  from  the  structural  em- 
phasis given  by  the  divisions  of  the  stories  as  marked  by 
the  exterior  galleries.  To  these  effects  must  be  added  that 
of  the  larger  wall  surfaces  and  rougher  masonry  of  the  lower 
story.    These  contribute  to  an  appearance  of  extra  strength 


Historic  Sketch  of  Fifteenth  Century  Architecture,  85 


in  the  lower  story,  befitting  its  relation  of  support  to  the 
upper  ones. 

In  the  celebrated  Florentine  Strozzi  Palace,  by  Benedetto 
da  Majano,  we  have  the  same  elements  of  power,  the 
simply  and  firmly  emphasized  lines  of  the  stories  and  the 
heavier  masonry  of  the  lower  story.  The  massive  cornice 
of  the  building,  by 
Cronaca,  is  especially 
famous,  and  is  the  one 
exterior  feature  in 
which  an  antique 
model  is  apparent. 
Tlie  Riccardi  Palace  of 
Florence  is  of  similar 
date  and  style. 

These  buildings  are 
more  refined  develop- 
ments from  the  older 
medieval  buildings  of 
Italy.  *  Since  they  are 
somewhat  massive  for 
modern  taste  in  their 
fortress-like  strength,  it 
must  be  remembered 
that  they  actually  were 
fortresses  as  well  as  palaces  and  correspond  in  appearance 
to  their  use  and  character.  It  must  be  added  that  average 
modern  taste  is  not  sufficiently  alive  to  the  element  of 
reserve  and  power  conveyed  by  large  masses  of  plain 
masonry.  Taste  has  been  corrupted  by  the  overloaded  but 
mechanical  ornament  of  nineteenth  century  Renaissance. 

*"  Roman  and  Medieval  Art,"  Figs.  145,  146. 


Fig.  38.— Strozzi  Palace   by   Benedetto  da 
Majano.    Cornice  by  Cronaca. 
Fifteenth  Century. 


CHAPTER  XL 


HISTORIC  SKETCH  OF  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY  RENAISSANCE 
ARCHITECTURE. 

At  the  opening  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  simpHcity 
and  reserve  of  the  early  Renaissance  were  still  general  but 
gradually  gave  way  to  more  pronounced  exterior  deco- 
rations, to  a  wider  use  and  greater  projection  of  the  surface 

ornament,  and  a  more 
broken  treatment  ot 
lines  and  surfaces.  The 
name  of  Bramante,  the 
friend  and  possibly  rel- 
ative of  Raphael,  is  at 
this  time  the  leading 
one.  We  shall  do  well 
now  to  notice  once 
more  a  Chapel  at 
Rome,  illustrated  in 
an  earlier  chapter,  and 
designed  by  this  fa- 
mous architect  (Fig. 
17). 

In  Bramante' s  Can- 
celleria   Palace  at 
Rome,  a  still  noted 
building,  we  find  the 
same  low  reliet  of  the  classic  pilasters  as  seen  on  the  Palace 

86 


Fig.  39, — Arcade  and  Court  of  the  Palace 
Massimi.    Rome.    By  Bal- 
dassare  Peruzzi. 


Historic  Sketch  of  Sixteenth  Century  Architecture,  87 


Rucellai,  the  same  constructional  emphasis  on  the  lines  of 
the  stories  illustrated  by  earlier  Florentine  palaces,  the 
same  artistic  use  of  the  blocks  of  masonry  as  in  themselves 
noble  and  beautiful  parts  of  the  building  (Fig.  40). 

In  his  court  of  the  Church  of  Santa  Maria  della  Pace  at  - 


Fig.  40. — Cancellaria  Palace,  Rome.    By  Bramante. 
Early  Sixteenth  Century. 


Rome,  we  see  once  more  the  dignified,  simple,  and  noble 
composition  of  the  best  period  of  the  Renaissance  (Fig. 
41).  By  contrast  with  the  Palace  at  Urbino  (Fig.  35), 
where  columns  are  used  in  construction,  we  have  in  the 
lower  arcade  the  pier  and  arch  construction  of  the  Roman 
time,  faced  by  flat  pilasters.  In  the  second  story  piers  al- 
ternate with  columns  to  support  the  straight  lintel,  showing 
another  free  departure  from  the  Roman  system  which  never 
used  a  pier  with  the  lintel. 


88 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


What  the  Church  of  St:  Peter  (begun  1506)  would 
have  been  if  Bramante  had  finished  or  even  partially  com- 
pleted it,  we  can  only  imagine.  In  its  present  shape  it  still 
dates  from  him  as  the  first  architect  who  worked  on  its 
plans,  but  has  nothing  either  in  plan  or  details  to  show  for 
Bramante  at  present  (Figs.  42,  43). 

The  Renaissance  was  soon  destined  to  take  on  colder 
and  more  formal  aspects,  even  in  the  hands  of  such  great 
artists  as  Raphael  and  Michael  Angelo.  The  former  became 
the  architect  of  St.  Peter's  after  the  death  of  Bramante, 


KiG.  4I^ — Court  of  the  Church  of  Santa  Maria  della  Pace.  Rome. 
By  Bramante.    Early  Sixteenth  Century. 


although  nothing  of  the  later  building  came  to  completion 
in  his  lifetime,  except  the  piers  of  the  dome.  Raphael  also 
built  several  palaces  in  Rome  and  Florence.    By  the  year 


Historic  Sketch  of  Sixteenth  Century  Architecture,  89 


1546,  when  Michael  Angelo  assumed  charge  of  the  con- 
struction, the  cold  and  mechanical  period  of  the  Renais- 
sance had  fairly  set  in. 

To  Michael  Angelo,  as  already  mentioned,  is  due  the 


Fig.  42. — St.  Peter's  Church.  Rome.  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  Centuries. 


construction  of  the  famous  dome,  which  was  finished  accord- 
ing to  his  plans  after  his  death.  But  continued  changes  in 
plan,  all  with  the  general  purpose  of  increase  in  size,  con- 
tinued to  be  made  and  the  most  famous  building  of  the 


90 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


Renaissance  dates  in  its  present  facade  and  in  the  details  of 
interior  decoration  from  the  seventeenth  century  only. 

As  regards  prodigal  luxury  in  details,  enormous  dimen- 
sions of  area,  and  gigantic  size  of  its  members,  St.  Peter's 
deserves  all  the  fame  it  has  won.  The  besetting  sin  of  the 
period  in  which  this  church  was  finished  was  over-decora- 


FiG.  43. — St.  Peter's  Church.  Rome. 


tion — the  idea  that  expensive  materials  and  lavish  display 
are  alone  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  high  art.  In 
this  sense  we  are  obliged  to  make  certain  reservations 
regarding  St.  Peter's,  and  all  buildings  of  the  time  of  its 
completion,  without  wishing  to  deny  its  importance  as  the 
largest  church  of  modern  history;  without  wishing  to  forget 
the  wonderful  engineering  science  displayed  in  the  construe- 


Historic  Sketch  of  Sixteenth  Century  Architecture.  91 


tion  of  its  dome  and  its  imposing  first  place  among  the 
monumental  jewels  of  Rome. 

On  the  other  hand,  concession  of  the  merit  of  St.  Peter's 
is  not  one  to  be  made  merely  to  bigness  of  dimensions  for 
its  own  sake.  In  exteriors,  mere  size  is  certainly  the  least 
important  of  all  things,  if  for  no  other  reason,  because  we 
can  least  control  it;  but  large  and  ample  interior  apart- 
ments will  always  claim  first  place  in  effect  and  power — and 
the  Italians  of  this  age  were  noble  designers  in  this  regard. 
The  galleries,  corridors,  and  loggias  (arcades)  of  the  Vati- 
can Palace  are  one  in- 
stance out  of  many, 
and  the  vestibule  of  St. 
Peter's  offers  a  fine 
illustration  in  the  same 
direction.  Our  illus- 
trations for  the  Sistine 
Chapel,  for  the  Vatican 
loggias,  and  for  the 
Doge's  Palace  at  Ven- 
ice should  be  consulted 
on  this  head,  aside 
from  the  interior  view 
of  St.  Peter's  (Figs. 
58,  88,  93). 

The  mention  of  St. 
Peter's  Church  has 
carried  us  beyond  the 
period  of  the  early 
sixteenth  century,  of  which  I  am  now  generally  speaking. 
Meantime,  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
countless  buildings  of  fine  proportions  and  beautiful  detail 
were  in  construction  all  over  Italy.    Among  these  I  have 


92 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


selected  the  Palace  Massimi  in  Rome  as  a  typical  building 
for  the  zenith  of  the  Renaissance  (Figs.  39,  44). 

We  have  in  Fig.  39  an  illustration  of  the  Tuscan  Doric 
Order  as  revived  from  the  Roman  ruins.*  It  is  still  in 
general  modern  use  as  a  tradition  from  this  time.  The 
Ionic  is  occasionally  found  on  Renaissance  buildings  (Figs. 
23,  46),  but  is  far  less  frequent  than  the  Corinthian  (Figs. 
26-32  inclusive,  and  many  others).  The  Roman  prefer- 
ence for  this  latter  Order  accented  its  use  by  the  Italian 
Renaissance  revival.  In  our  own  days  the  general  domi- 
nance of  the  Corinthian  Order  continues  as  a  result. 

In  the  Palace  Mas- 
simi it  is  still  obviously 
the  construction  which 
attracts  and  interests 
us.  In  other  build- 
ings the  preference  for 
antique  forms  begins 
to  develop  without 
reference  to  the 
effects  of  the  building 
itself  The  door  and 
window  pediments, 
now  transferred  to  the 
exterior  facades,  of- 
fered a  ready  means  to 
inferior  architects  to 
satisfy  the  demand  for 
antique  designs  with- 
out taxing  their  own 
invention.  It  would 
be  impossible  to  deny  that  there  are  countless  fine  and 

*  "Roman  and  Medieval  Art,"  Fig.  12. 


1 . 

1 

1 

I---  ■ 

Fig.  45.— Palace  Bartoliiii.    Florence,  1520. 
By  Baccio  d'Agnolo. 


Historic  Sketch  of  Sixteenth  Century  Architecture,  93 


imposing  buildings  on  which  these  gables  appear;  equally 
impossible  to  deny  that  they  have  found  their  final  grave 
>    on  the  brownstone  fronts  of  New  York  City  (Fig.  13). 

The  Florentine  Palace  Bartolini,  shown  in  Fig.  45,  long 
passed  as  the  earliest  example  of  the  door  and  window 
pediments  on  an  exterior  facade,  but  the  Palace  Pandol- 
fini  in  Florence  shows  Raphael  as  predecessor  (1516)  in  this 


Fig.  46. — Second  Story,  Court  of  the  Faniese  Palace.    Building  by  Antonio 
di  San  Gallo  and  Michael  Angelo. 

regard,  and  they  also  appear  in  a  drawing  by  Bramante, 
who  died  in  15 14.  The  alternation  of  curvilinear  and 
angular  pediments  on  the  Palace  Bartolini  is  again  alter- 
nated by  changed  arrangement  on  various  stories. 

The  year  1520  is  dangerously  near  the  first  decline  of  the 
Renaissance,  and  we  cannot  but  find  the  appearance  of 
the  exterior  pediments  at  this  time  significant.    The  first 


94 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


effect  of  a  door  or  window  is  that  of  its  entire  shadow  as 
against  the  adjacent  surface.  The  broken  Hnes  and  surfaces 
created  by  these  projecting  but  still  inefficient  and  useless 
canopies  tend  to  destroy  a  finer  series  of.  contrasts  than 
they  themselves  create,  and  the  breaks  of  wall  surface 
which  they  involve  detract  from  effects  of  structural  lines. 

The  sacrifice  of  the  main  lines  and  surfaces  to  elaboration 
of  details  rapidly  asserted  itself  after  1530.  We  find  an  in- 
stance in  the  second  story  of  the  court  of  the  Farnese  Palace, 
at  Rome,  where  the  removal  of  the  pediments  would  con- 
tribute to  effects  of  proportion  and  contrast  (Fig.  46). 

In  this  view  we  also  see  the  high  projection  of  the 

engaged^'  columns,  as  contrasted  with  the  flat  pilasters 
of  the  Rucellai  and  Cancellaria  Palaces  (Figs.  36,  40). 

In  their  ultimate  use  of  the  classic  Roman  wall  column, 
the  Italians  strove  to  regain  what  they  had  sacrificed  in  the 
matter  of  surface  effects,  and  of  structural  lines  in  the  hori- 
zontal, by  emphasis  on  the  perpendiculars.  This  was  ob- 
tained by  applying  the  simulated  columns  in  the  propor- 
tion of  the  entire  building  (Fig/  26),  but  at  the  expense  of 
any  treatment  emphasizing  the  stories,  or  other  organic 
conditions  of  the  building. 

This  disregard  of  organism  is  the  almost  necessary  resort 
of  any  modern  architect  designing  in  Renaissance  style  and 
wishing  to  give  imposing  lines  to  his  building.  To  the 
classic  enthusiasms  of  the  old  Renaissance,  which  forced 
the  use  of  these  columns  on  every  important  structure,  we 
can  make  almost  any  concessions,  but  there  is  no  doubt 
that  they  have  laid  a  very  serious  burden  on  the  shoulders 
of  later  architects  who  have  less  interest  in  Virgil  and 
Pliny,  and  the  same  reverence  for  Vitruvius.* 


♦Vitruvius  is  the  Roman  author  on  architecture,  whose  work  became  the  stand- 
ard of  appeal  of  all  Italian  architects  soon  after  1500. 


Historic  Sketch  of  Sixteenth  Century  Architecture,  95 


The  last  great  architect  of  the  Renaissance  was  Palladio, 
15 18-1580.  He  was  a  native  of  Vicenza,  and  most  of  his 
important  work  was  in  north  Italy,  especially  in  Vicenza 
and  in  Venice.  Two  interesting  views  of  his  designs  in 
and  near  Vicenza  are 
subjoined;  one  of  these 
is  his  most  famous  villa 
(Fig.  16). 

The  great  merit  of 
Palladio  was  his  dis- 
position of  interior 
apartments  and  his  ar- 
rangements of  interior 
plans.  In  his  use  of 
the  ^'Orders''  on  ex- 
teriors he  was  distin- 
guished by  refinement, 
moderation,  a  sense  of 
proportion  and  regard 
for  organic  appearance 
and  effect.  In  his  day 
the  use  of  these  ^'Or- 
ders ' '  in  exteriors  was 
a  matter-of-course  formula  for  every  architect,  as  a  result 
of  that  literary  enthusiasm  for  Roman  antiquity  whose 
peculiar  causes  I  have  endeavored  to  explain  (pp.  54-60). 

In  these  enthusiasms  we  understand  the  architects  as 
sharers  within  the  domain  of  their  own  peculiar  art,  so  that 
Palladio,  for  instance,  was  a  close  student  of  the  ancient 
Roman  ruins;  but  it  is  important  to  know  that  the  larger 
basis  and  groundwork  of  the  architectural  fashion  was  that 
general  point  of  view  of  the  entire  Italian  culture  and  edu- 
cation, in  which  the  literary  sentiment  of  the  men  of  letters, 


96 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


the  historic  interest  of  the  student  of  history,  the  debt  of 
the  man  of  science  to  ancient  learning,  and  the  patriotic  in- 
terest of  the  average  ItaHan  in  the  former  glories  of  his 
country  were  the  essential  explanation. 

We  must  not  forget  to  mention  finally  the  name  of  Vi- 
gnola  (1507- 1 573)  whose  treatise  on  the  Orders  has  not  even 
yet  entirely  lost  its  influence  on  modern  architecture.  As  a 
planner  and  composer  of  buildings  he  was  not  Palladio's 
equal,  but  he  long  ranked  as  the  leading  theorist  on  the 
subject  of  Roman,  /.  e.  Renaissance,  details.  The  Italian 
theory  that  Roman  art  was  an  inspired  canon  for  the  imita- 
tion of  all  later  history  reached  its  climax  in  his  treatise. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


DECADENCE    OF    RENAISSANCE    ARCHITECTURE,  SEVEN- 
TEENTH AND  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURIES. 

In  THE  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century  ItaHan  archi- 
tecture turned  from  the  study  and  copy  of  the  Roman 
buildings  to  the  study  and  copy  of  its  own  earlier  copies. 
The  period  of  continu- 
ation and  tradition  set 
in,  as  against  the  period 
of  original  adaptation 
or  of  original  creation 
mistaken  for  adaptation 
or  disguised  as  adap- 
tation. 

In  this  period  the 
method  and  the  form- 
ula, that  is  to  say  the 
classic  detail,  became 
the  main  thing.  The 
building  was  forgotten 
in  its  ornament.  The 
whole  became  less  im- 
portant than  its  parts. 
The  beautiful  variety 
and  real  inventiveness 
of  the  early  modern 
Italian  art  gradually 
disappeared,  while  the  shell  of  its  exterior  and  superficial 
appearance  continued  to  subsist. 

97 


Fig.  48. — French  Renaissance  Doorway. 
Villeneuve-les- Avignon . 


98 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


In  illustrating  the  later  course  of  this  movement  we  shall 
find  it  interesting  to  choose  a  single  motive  and  follow  the 
course  of  its  evolution.  We  will  select  the  curvilinear 
pediment,  which  we  first  noticed  at  length  over  the  door  of 
Brunellesco  (Fig.  30). 

The  examples  of  subsequent  evolution  are  selected  from 
the  French  Renaissance  but  will  be  typical  for  Italian  coun- 
terparts and  originals. 

In  the  French  doorway  (Fig.  48)  we  notice,  as  compared 

with  B  runellesco' s 
door,  the  higher  pro- 
jection and  relief  (de- 
signed to  produce 
stronger  shadows)  both 
of  the  main  design  and 
of  the  ornamental  carv- 
ings in  detail;  and  the 
broken  horizontals. 
This  break  in  the  hori- 
zontals is  connected 
with  the  assumption  ol 
a  double  plane  for  the 
ornament,  in  which  the 
central  portion  is 
thrown  forward  from 
the  sides;  the  motive 
being  to  increase 
variety  of  surfaces, 
outlines,  lights,  and 
shadows. 

A  momentous  step  farther  in  the  same  direction  is  visible 
in  our  next  French  doorway  (Fig.  49).  Not  only  are  the 
projections  enormously  exaggerated,  but  the  entire  pedi- 


FiG.  49. — French  Renaissance  Doorway. 
Villeneuve-les-Avignon. 


Decadence  of  Renaissance  Architecture, 


99 


ment  is  broken  into  exterior  wings  with  a  recessed  center. 

This  broken  pediment  Hne,  also  found  in  the  triangular 
form  of  the  same  period,  is  to  be  seen  in  ruins  of  the 
Roman  decadence,* 
but  it  appears  in  Italian 
Renaissance  art  at  a 
later  date  than  does  the 
unbroken  form. 

In  our  next  doorway 
(Fig.  50),  the  central 
portion  of  the  arc  has 
disappeared  entirely. 
The  form  can  only  be 
comprehended  by  ref- 
erence to  the  preced- 
ing type. 

Turn  now  to  an  en- 
tire cathedral  facade  of 
the  late  Spanish.  Re- 
naissance and  we 
have  a  type  of  the 

baroque        R  e  n  a  i  S  -        ^^^^  50.— French  Doorway.  Villeneuve-les- 

sance  style  as  origi-  Avignon. 

nally  native  to  Italy  of  the  seventeenth  century  (Fig.  51). 

In  this  illustration  the  entire  central  front  of  the  building 
is  a  built  up  travesty  of  our  last  motive.  What  had  once 
been  the  framing  of  a  door  or  window,  and  originally  the 
ornament  of  a  Roman  niche  for  a  statue,  has  become  the 
entire  front  of  a  building.  Meantime  the  original  forms  in 
their  original  place  can  be  seen  on  windows  and  niches  for 
statuary,  of  the  same  building. 

The  sway  of  this  style  in  all  parts  of  Europe  is  shown  by 

♦View  from  eastern  Syria,  '*  Roman  andMedieval  Art,"  p.  42. 


Fig,  51,— Cathedral  of  Murcia.   Late  Spanish  Renaissance. 


Decadence  of  Renaissance  Architecture.  loi 


the  English  example  from  St.  Mary's  College  at  Oxford 
(Fig.  52),  in  which  the  twisted  or  spiral  column  ap- 
pears, as  an  additional  feature.  Such  columns  must  be 
understood  as  having  been  originally  in  bronze  and  made 
for  the  shrine  of  a  church,  as  in  the  great  shrine  of  St. 
Peter's  at  Rome.  In  fact,  the  whole  history  of  the  later 
Renaissance  may  be  understood  as  a  transfer  of  designs  for 
altars,  shrines,  and  tablets  to  the  exterior  details,  and, 
finally,  to  the  entire 
composition  of  a  build- 
ing. What  was  more 
endurable  in  the  way 
of  broken  surfaces  and 
arbitrary  lines  in 
smaller  and  less  pre- 
tentious objects,  or  in 
more  tractable  or  duc- 
tile materials,  like 
wood,  plaster,  or  metal, 
became  less  endurable 
when  transferred  t  o 
entire  buildings  and  to 
large  masonry  forms. 

In  our  critical  atti- 
tude toward  the  late 
Renaissance  our  point 
of  view  must  be 
largely  determined  by  the  dimension  and  use  of  the  given 
form,  and  by  its  relation  to  the  entire  building.  Although 
a  doorway  like  that  of  St.  Mary's  College  at  Oxford 
must  be  admitted  to  be  a  corrupt  and  extravagant  design, 
we  cannot  deny  its  picturesque  quality  and  picturesque 
relation  to  the  whole  building.     From  the  standpoint 


Fig.  52. — St.  Mary's  College.    Oxford.  Seven- 
teenth Century  English  Renaissance, 


I02  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


of  history  it  even  becomes  a  most  interesting  evolution. 

In  face  of  an  entire  building  like  the  Spanish  Cathedral 
of  Murcia,  where  a  similar  design  appears  in  the  entire 
front,  which  is  worried  and  fretted  from  top  to  bottom  with 

meaningless  breaks 
and  projections,  our 
attitude  of  criticism 
becomes  more  severe, 
although  the  historic 
interest  still  preponder- 
ates (Fig.  51). 

In  the  French  door- 
ways which  have  been 
quoted  we  must  con- 
cede much  picturesque 
beauty;  given  an 
otherwise  mainly  plain 
and  unpretentious 
house  surface,  as  would 
appear  from  the 
glimpses  of  the  ex- 
teriors obtained  in  the 
views.  As  regards  the 
element  of  dimension,  where  the  form  is  the  same,  it  is 
clear  that  the  facade  of  St.  Etienne  du  Mont  at  Paris  (Fig. 
53)  has  sacrificed  all  thoughts  of  a  serious  relation  between 
appearance  and  construction  by  the  size  of  its  pediments. 
Were  the  same  shapes  limited  in  size  to  the  older  use  as 
canopy  for  door  or  window,  the  building  would  be  the 
gainer. 

It  would  be  erroneous  to  suppose  that  the  later  Renais- 
sance was  entirely  given  over  to  perversions  and  over-elab- 
orations of  its  earlier  designs.    Much  was  done  that  was  at 


Fig.  53.— St.  Etienne  du  Mont, 
Saventeenth  Century. 


Paris. 


Decadence  of  Renaissance  Architeciure,  103 


least  imposing  and  monumental,  and  much  that  was  com- 
paratively simple,  although  in  all  these  cases  the  mechan- 
ical quality  of  the  detail  carvings  in  capitals  and  surface  or- 
naments is  to  be  observed.  In  other  cases  a  somewhat 
cold  and  bare  appearance,  owing  to  the  absence  of  orna- 
ment in  detail,  is  often  apparent. 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral  in  London  (Sir  Christopher  Wren) 


Fig.  54.— St.  Paul's  Cathedral.   London.   Seventeenth  Century. 


may  be  instanced  as  a  case  fairly  described  by  the  general 
hints  of  the  above  paragraph.  An  instance  of  this  cold 
but  still  monumental  style  may  also  be  found  in  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Versailles,  selected  for  a  view  because  it  offers  an 
available  photograph  illustrative  of  this  class  of  later  Re- 
naissance art  (Fig.  25).  The  Poll  Palace  at  Rome,  with 
the  facade  fronting  the  Fountain  of  Trevi,  is  a  fine  illustra- 


I04  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


tion  of  the  monumental  qualities  frequently  found  in  late 
Renaissance  style  (Fig.  26). 

On  the  other  hand  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  in  church 
interiors  any  making  pretensions  to  importance  which  are 
not  disfigured  by  the  arbitrary  and  broken  lines  and  details 
of  the  shrines,  tombs,  and  altars. 

In  its  later  days  the  Renaissance  was  at  its  best  in  locali- 
ties where  a  simple 
taste  and  simple  life 
forbade  the  effort  at 
extravagant  display  or 
were,  by  virtue  of  the 
personal  dignity  and 
republican  virtues  of 
the  population,  su- 
perior to  it.  Such  a 
locality  was  Holland, 
and  we  may  find  hints 
on  this  point  in  the 
views  from  Leyden 

(Figs.  55,  56). 

One  of  these  views 
reproduces  a  seven- 
teenth century  house 
of  some  fame  on  ac- 
count of  its  historic 
associations  with  the 
life  of  the  Puritan 
leader,  John  Robinson. 
This  house,  built  in 
1683,  stands  on  the  site  of  the  earlier  one  which  he  occu- 
pied. Its  appearance  will  recall  many  of  the  Colonial  houses 
of  our  own  country  and  will  remind  us  under  what  guise 


Fig.  55. — House  in  Leyden.  Seventeenth 
Century  Dutch  Renaissance. 


Decadence  of  Renaissance  Architecture,  105 


the  Italian  style  of  the  Renaissance  was  familiar  to  our 
own  immediate  forefathers. 

The  Dutch  Renaissance  exercised  decisive  influence  both 
on  England  and  on  America,  and  explains  the  superior 
simplicity  of  the  so-called  style  of  Queen  Anne  (English 
eighteenth  century  Renaissance)  and  of  our  own  so-called 
"Colonial  style"  (early 
American  Renais- 
sance). The  way  and 
manner  in  which  the 
Netherland  influence 
affected  both  England 
and  America  has  been 
best  explained  by  a 
book  already  quoted — 
Douglas  Campbell's 
"The  Puritan  in  Hol- 
land, England,  and 
America. ' ' 

To  return  finally  for 
a  moment  to  the  six- 
teenth century  period 
of  superior  art,  let  us 
remember  here,  also, 
that  at  a  given  date 
the  contemporary  building  of  France  or  Germany  may  be 
superior  to  a  given  one  in  Italy;  because  as  the  style  moved 
from  south  to  north  and  northwest,  it  largely  traveled  from 
point  to  point  by  gradual  geographical  contact  as  well  as 
by  sudden  transportation  by  means  of  an  imported  Italian 
architect,  or  through  a  native  architect  who  had  studied  in 
Italy. 

Hence,  as  the  history  of  the  Renaissance  all  over  Europe 


Fig.  56,— Town  Hall  of  Leyden.    Dutch  Renais- 
sance.   Late  Sixteenth  Century. 


io6 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


is  one  of  an  early  period  of  more  spontaneous  and  vital 
energy  as  succeeded  by  another  of  more  mechanical  and 
colder  art,  and  as  the  movement  started  from  an  Italian 
center,  it  follows  that  the  North  may  reflect  at  a  later  time 
an  earlier  stage  of  the  Italian  inspiration.  Throw  a  stone 
into  the  middle  of  a  pool  of  water,  and  when  the  last 
ripples  are  reaching  its  circumference  the  center  has  become 
quiescent.  This  is  an  illustration  of  the  course  of  historic 
influence.  It  is  doubtful  if  Italy  can  offer  a  parallel  for  the 
given  time  to  the  sixteenth  century  castle  fagades  of  German 
Heidelberg,  which  it  had  inspired.  Some  of  my  most  sig- 
nificant illustrations  for  the  vigor  and  life  of  early  Renais- 
sance Italian  art  are  borrowed  from  France  (Figs.  lo,  ii, 
14,  18,  21,  34). 

France  and  Spain  were,  by  blood  and  by  sympathies  of 
history  and  of  Roman  traditions,  most  nearly  allied  to  Italy, 
and  most  susceptible  of  a  native  and  original  continuance  of 
the  Italian  movement  reviving  the  memory  of  Rome.  But 
of  these  two  countries,  France  was  geographically  nearer 
to  Italy,  and  alone  geographically  in  contact  with  it. 
Moreover,  the  French  population  had  a  lively,  vivacious, 
and  susceptible  taste  which  most  quickly  responded  to  the 
Italian  influence.  The  castles  and  country-seats  of  the 
French  Renaissance  are,  taken  in  bulk,  beyond  any  dispute 
the  most  interesting  monuments  of  the  style  outside  ol 
Italy. 

An  account  of  the  more  recent  history  of  modern  archi- 
tecture is  reserved  for  a  later  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


RELATION  OF  PAINTING  TO  OTHER   ARTS    OF  THE 
RENAISSANCE. 

According  to  a  philosophic  view  of  our  subject,  the  art 
of  sculpture  should  for  some  reasons  take  precedence  either 
of  architecture  or  of  painting.  The  interest  in  physical 
nature  and  the  study  of  its  forms  and  appearances  from  the 
standpoint  of  nature  (as  distinct  from  the  use  of  these  forms 
to  teach  the  lessons  of  religion  and  to  represent  the  stories 
and  events  of  the  Bible  narrative),  were  essential  features  of 
the  Renaissance.  A  corresponding  fact  was  the  interest  in 
the  works  of  ancient  sculpture,  which  also  distinguished 
the  period.  Sculpture  was  the  earliest  art  to  show  that 
scientific  study  of  design  in  the  cause  of  nature,  which  still 
rules  the  modern  time.  The  second  pair  of  bronze  doors 
by  Ghiberti,  of  the  Baptistery  in  Florence,  begun  about 
1425,  will  convey  more  clearly  to  the  modern  eye  than  any 
other  monument  of  art  the  epoch-making  and  really  modern 
character  of  the  fifteenth  century  in  Italy. 

Our  reasons  for  treating  first  of  architecture,  are  first, 
that  the  exterior  antique  coloring  and  enthusiasms  which 
have  given  the  whole  period  its  name  are  most  visibly 
shown  in  this  art;  second,  that  the  historic  continuity  of  the 
movement  between  the  fifteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries  is 
most  easily  illustrated  by  this  art;  third,  that  the  break 
with  the  Middle  Ages  is  most  abrupt  in  architecture  and 
most  easily  illustrated  by  the  overthrow  of  the  Gothic  style 
in  favor  of  Renaissance. 

107 


io8  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


Some  reasons  may  now  be  offered  for  giving  painting  the 
second  place  in  our  treatment. 

Painting  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  was  first 
and  foremost  wall  decoration ;  that  is,  architectural  decora- 
tion, in  its  location,  in  its  character,  and  in  its  purpose. 
No  adequate  idea  of  the  architecture  of  the  time  can 
be  formed  without  considering  the  adornment  given  by 


Fig.  57. — Ceiling  of  a  Room  in  the  Chateau  of  Oyron,  with  Mythologic  Paintings. 
French  Renaissance.    Compare  Fig.  11. 


this  sister  art,  and  the  magnificence  of  the  interior  apart- 
ments as  thus  decorated. 

A  purely  superficial  and  outside  view  of  Renaissance  ar- 
chitecture, both  in  the  literal  and  figurative  sense,  is  obtained 
when  we  confine  ourselves  to  those  traits  of  the  ' '  Orders  ' ' 
which  concern  exteriors,  or  when  we  confine  ourselves  to 
interior  details  as  distinct  from  the  great  surfaces  devoted 
to  the  wall-paintings.    The  most  important  part  of  a  build- 


Relation  of  Painting  to  other  Arts.  109 


However  differ- 


ing is  the  interior.  The  proper  treatment  of  an  interior 
in  color  offers  an  even  more  difficult  problem  than  that  ol 
exterior  architecture. 

As  the  painting  of  the  Italian  Renaissance  was  domi- 
nantly  architectural,  we  shall,  therefore,  do  well  to  join  our 
account  of  the  subject  to  that  of  architecture. 

In  the  matter  of  the  importance  and  general  bearing  of 
our  subject,  we  shall  notice  next,  that  the  continuity  of 
history,  as  between  the  Middle  Age  and  the  Renaissance,  is 
best  illustrated  by  painting,  whereas  the  break  with  the 
Middle  Age  is  best  shown  by  architecture, 
ent  these  periods  were, 
both  were  Christian. 
The  Italian  wall-paint- 
ings of  the  Gothic 
fourteenth  century 
were  the  direct  prede- 
cessors of  those  of  the 
fifteenth  century.  The 
same  series  of  types 
and  subjects  was  con- 
tinued. 

On  the  other  hand, 
it  is  admitted  that  the 
Renaissance  celebrated 
its  greatest  and  purest 
triumph  in  the  art  of 
'painting.  The  perfec- 
tion of  its  productions 
in  this  art  is  still 
unattacked  and  unattackable.  If  in  architecture  we 
especially  strive  to  show  how  the  early  Renaissance 
influenced  later  times — in  painting  we  are  able  especially 


Fig,  58— Loggie  or  Corridor  of  the  Vatican. 
Built  by  Bramante  and  decorated 
by  Raphael. 


no 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


to  show  how  far,  in  some  respects,  it  surpassed  them. 

As  regards  sculpture,  we  shall  concede,  however,  that  the 
study  of  solid  and  concrete  form  must  always  logically  pre- 
cede successful  representation  on  a  flat  surface;  we  shall 
concede  that  these  studies  in  soHd  form  actually  did  pre- 
cede in  point  of  time  and  preliminary  importance,  and  we 
shall  subsequently  be  able  to  show  that  whereas  the  greatest 
triumph  of  the  sixteenth  century  was  in  painting,  the  great- 
est triumph  of  the  fifteenth  century  was  in  sculpture. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  RENAISSANCE  PAINTING. 

For  a  skeleton  view  of  the  subject,  we  shall  lay  down 
the  following  preliminary  outlines: 

In  the  eighteenth  century  great  Italian  painting  is  con- 
spicuous by  its  absence.  The  names  of  the  Tiepoli  (sin- 
gular, Tiepolo)  in  Venice,  or  of  Canaletto  and  of  Guardi, 
famed  for  their  views  of  Venetian  architecture,  will  hold  a 
very  minor  place  in  the  perspective  which  places  the  six- 
teenth century  in  the  foreground. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  the  painters  of  Spain  and  the 
Netherlands  were  at  least  the  equals  and  often  the  superiors 
of  their  Italian  brethren  of  the  same  date,  a  fact  which  has 
its  analogies  in  the  history  of  architecture.  At  this  time 
the  Italian  painting  was  still  excellent  in  color,  in  design, 
and  in  science;  but  it  had  come  to  have  a  more  academic 
and  formal,  less  spirited  and  less  genuine,  quality  in  the 
treatment  and  conception  of  subjects.  Its  color  cannot 
compare  with  that  of  the  Venetians  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. Its  composition  did  not  rival  that  of  Raphael.  Its 
intellectual  quality  did  not  remotely  approach  the  genius  of 
Michael  Angelo  or  Da  Vinci.  Above  all  its  scale  and  di- 
mension of  productions  had  fallen.  Scarcely  any  great 
architectural  compositions  were  produced  in  the  seventeenth 
century;  which  was  almost  entirely  confined  to  panel  paint- 
ing and  canvas  as  distinct  from  frescoes.  The  impor- 
tance of  Guido's  Aurora  "  makes  it  one  of  the  rare  ex- 
ceptions to  this  statement. 

Ill 


112 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


In  turning  to  the  sixteenth  century  painting  we  note  its 
most  important  monumental  works  as  the  decoration  of  the 
Sistine  Chapel  of  the  Vatican,  by  Michael  Angelo;  the  wall- 
paintings  of  the  Vatican  by  Raphael,  and  the  decoration  of 
the  Doge's  Palace  in  Venice  by  a  whole  series  of  the  great 
Venetian  artists.  The  forerunner  and  first  great  painter  of 
this  period  was  Da  Vinci,  whose  ' '  Last  Supper ' '  in  Milan 
was  finished  about  1498.  As  leading  up  to  this  period  we 
begin  with  the  fifteenth  century. 

To  a  comprehension  at  once  of  the  limitations  of  this 
time  and  of  its  remarkable  advance  over  that  which  pre- 
ceded, we  must  remember  what  this  preceding  time  had 
done  and  what  its  characteristics  were.  In  my  ' '  Roman 
and  Medieval  Art ' '  I  have  given  some  illustrations  of  the 
art  of  Giotto,  its  leading  master,  and  s'ome  account  of  the 
art  revolution  accomplished  in  the  fourteenth  century  and 
best  represented  by  his  work. 

This  work  was  the  overthrow  of  that  stiff  and  formal 
style  of  design  which  Byzantine  art  had  practiced  for  nearly 
a  thousand  years  preceding;*  but  Italian  painting  was  still 
in  its  infancy  during  the  fourteenth  century  and  was  still 
controlled  by  the  medieval  point  of  view,  in  which  nature 
for  its  own  sake  played  no  part. 

Italian  Christian  art  was  still  satisfied  during  the  four- 
teenth century  with  the  most  primitive  and  summary  indi- 
cations of  natural  surroundings  and  backgrounds.  Por- 
traiture was  not  attempted,  neither  was  perspective  or  the 
realistic  rendering  of  details.  Its  color  scheme  was,  how- 
ever, bright  and  decorative,  its  conception  of  the  subject 
matter  serious  and  original. 

In  contrast  with  these  traits  the  realistic  point  of  view 
was  the  ruling  one  for  the  fifteenth  century.    No  figure  but 

*  Compare  the  Byzantine  mosaics — "  Roman  and  Medieval  Art." 


Fig.  59. — Detail  from  the  Raising  of  Eutychus.    By  Masaccio. 
Brancacci  Chapel,  Florence.   About  1425. 


114 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


was  drawn  and  colored  from  an  actual  model;  no  background 
without  a  landscape  (Fra  Angelico  is  the  sole  exception 
and  only  in  some  cases) ;  no  landscape  that  did  not  in  effort 
strive  to  show  the  facts  of  nature ;  no  face  that  was  not  a  por- 
trait; no  expression  that  did  not  strive  to  reveal  character. 

More  than  this,  the  actual  Italian  life  of  the  time  was 
represented  in  the  disguise  of  scripture  subjects.  The 
drunkenness  of  Noah  takes  place  in  an  Italian  vineyard 
(Benozzo  Gozzoli  in  Pisa).  The  building  of  the  Tower  of 
Babel  is  done  by  Italian  masons  in  an  Italian  landscape 
(Benozzo  Gozzoli  in  Pisa).  The  birth  of  the  Savior  is  a 
domestic  scene  in  Florence  (Ghirlandajo  in  Santa  Maria 
Novella). 

We  should  hasten  to  add  that  the  incongruities  of  these 
representations  soon  cease  to  amuse,  or  even  to  draw  the 
attention  of,  a  student  as  anachronisms.  On  the  contrary, 
it  is  the  actual  life  of  Italy  which  he  delights  to  find,  as  the 
time  itself  delighted  to  represent  it. 

There  is  a  double  point  of  view  from  which  we  learn  to 
understand  that  neither  impiety  nor  indifference  to  the  at- 
tributed subject  is  in  question  in  these  pictures.  The 
literature  of  the  Bible,  as  illustrated  by  art,  was  so  far  part 
and  parcel  of  the  daily  lives  of  the  people  that  it  was  most 
natural  for  them  to  see  it  represented  through  the  medium 
of  their  own  actual  surroundings.  The  subjects  were 
traditional,  and  although  they  had  been  represented  in 
earlier  times  with  less  matter-of-fact  detail,  they  never  had 
been  presented  so  as  to  represent  the  life  of  Palestine. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  literature  of  the  Bible  was  valued 
as  a  species  of  epitome  of  life  and  history  at  large,  in  which 
all  periods  of  civilization  and  all  varieties  of  costume  were 
equally  congenial  to  the  heart  and  spirit  of  the  matter. 
The  Madonna  was  not  only  the  Virgin  Mary,  but  a  type 


Fifteenth  Century  Renaissance  Painting,  115 


and  ideal  of  the  purity  of  motherhood.  The  drunkenness 
of  Noah  was  the  standard  temperance  sermon.  In  the  do- 
mestic Hfe  of  the  Holy  Family  was  found  a  type  and  ideal 
of  the  domestic  life  of  humanity  at  large. 

What  we  should  then  mainly  gather  from  those  realistic 
features  of  fifteenth  century  art  which  strike  us  as  incon- 
gruous, is  that  a  dawning,  or  rather  a  reawakened,  sense  ol 
the  beauty  of  actual  nature  and  interest  in  visible  things  for 
their  own  sake  led  the  artist  to  create  their  counterparts 
and  the  people  to  delight  in  looking  at  them.  The  tra- 
ditional subjects  of  Christian  art  were  not  less  interesting, 
but  rather  more  so  on  this  account. 

The  first  development  of  fifteenth  century  art  was  Floren- 
tine, and  the  artists  of  Florence  became  the  masters  and 
teachers  of  all  Italy.  It  is,  therefore,  by  no  means  es- 
pecially in  Florence  that  their  work  is  to  be  studied.  On 
the  lower  walls  of  the  Sistine  Chapel  at  Rome  is  a  most 
important  series  of  frescoes  by  a  number  of  Florentine 
painters.  In  the  Campo  Santo  at  Pisa*  there  is  another 
series,  the  work  of  the  Florentine  Benozzo  Gozzoli.  Be- 
sides these  we  may  name  as  especially  important  the  wall- 
paintings  of  Ghirlandajo  (Geerlandaio)  in  the  Church  ol 
Santa  Maria  Novella  in  Florence. 

The  Florentine  Masaccio  (Masatcheo)  was  the  first  great 
innovator  of  his  time,  and  his  name  stands  in  fifteenth  cen- 
tury painting  as  does  that  of  Giotto  in  the  fourteenth.  Not 
only  was  he  the  first  in  time,  but  he  was  also  distinctly  the 
greatest  of  his  entire  period,  which  lasted  down  to  the 
^'Last  Supper"  of  Da  Vinci.  This  position  is  awarded  him 
not  only  on  grounds  of  execution  and  technical  improve- 
ment of  design,  but  also  for  the  great  dignity  and  power  ot 
his  thoughtful  paintings. 

*  "  Roman  and  Medieval  Art,"  Fig.  143, 


ii6  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


In  the  Brancacci  (Brancatchy)  Chapel  of  the  Church  ol 
Santa  Carmine  (Carminy)  at  Florence  are  found  the  great 

wall-paintings  of  this 
master,  who  died  so 
young  that  we  other- 
wise can  quote  no  really 
important  picture  by 
his  hand.  They  were 
executed  between  1423 
and  1428. 

From  the  various 
paintings  of  this  chapel 
I  have  selected  a  detail 
from  a  small  portion  of 
' '  The  Raising  of  Euty- 
chus,"  in  which  the 
strong  realism  and  dif- 
ferentiation of  the  por- 
traits and  of  their  facial 
expressions  are  well  il- 
lustrated. These  may 
be  compared  with  the 
faces  in  Giotto's  ''Dep- 
osition, ' '  for  a  contrast 
with  the  style  preced- 
ing.^ Supposed  to  be 
from  a  design  of  Ma- 
saccio,  as  executed  by 
his  follower  Filippino 
Lippi,  is  the  picture  of 
* '  St  Peter  in  Prison, 
Visited  by  St.  Paul, ' '  another  of  the  series  in  this  chapel. 

*Fig.  146,  "  Roman  and  Medieval  Art." 


Fig.  60— St.  Paul  Visiting  St.  Peter  in  Prison. 
Design  by  Masaccio.  Execution 
by  Filippino  Lippi. 


Fifteenth  Century  Renaissance  Painting,  117 


According  to  the  natural  conditions  of  the  large  wall 
spaces  to  be  decorated  (see  for  example  the  lower  side 
walls  of  the  Sistine  Chapel,  Fig.  88,  or  the  walls  of  the 
Campo  Santo  at  Pisa,  Fig.  143,  Roman  and  Medieval 
Art  the  most  usual  shape  of  the  wall-painting  was  that 
of  a  large  oblong  panel,  and  this  was  filled  with  a  multitude 
of  figures  of  life-size  dimensions.  The  range  and  choice 
of  subjects  covered  the  whole  field  of  Bible  history.  There 


Fig.  61. — "Christ  giving  the  Keys  to  Peter."    Fresco  by  Perugino. 
Sistine  Chapel,  Rome.    (Compare  Fig.  87.) 

are  no  similar  pictures  to  be  seen  outside  of  Italy,  and  here 
they  can  only  be  known  on  the  plastered  walls  of  the  origi- 
nal buildings. 

Owing  to  the  habit  of  the  artists  of  introducing  large 
groups  of  accessory  figures  and  spectators,  who  are  not 
active  participants  in  the  scene  represented,  and  who 
mainly  fill  the  foreground  of  the  painting,  these  works  fre- 
quently lack  variety  and  interest  of  action.    On  the  other 


ii8  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


hand,  they  always  offer  interesting  studies  of  contemporary 
Italian  costume  and  individuality.  As  entire  compositions 
they  are  very  important  as  illustrating,  by  contrast,  the 
great  advance  made  after  the  time  of  the  ' '  Last  Supper. ' ' 

It  is  in  the  draping,  pose,  action,  and  physiognomy  ol 
the  individual  figures,  and  in  the  realistic  accessories  and 
background  details  that  we  notice  their  own  epoch-making 
importance  in  contrast  with  earlier  times.  Comparison 
with  contemporary  paintings  of  northern  Europe,  among 
which  the  Flemish  and  German  would  offer  most  accessible 
illustration,  is  one  good  way  to  appreciate  their  value.  But 
however  remarkable  these  pictures  become  in  the  history  of 
design,  when  compared  with  earlier  Italian  or  northern 
contemporary  work,  we  shall  fail  of  hitting  the  mark  if  we 
consider  them  purely  or  mainly  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
artist  in  design. 

The  main  point  to  be  considered  is  that  they  represented 
a  public  art,  existing  for  the  people  at  large,  serving  for 
their  education,  edification,  and  instruction.  We  must  bear 
constantly  in  mind  their  individual  large  dimensions  and  the 
fact  that  all  chapels,  churches,  public  halls,  and  civic  build- 
ings were  habitually  decorated  with  them.  They  existed 
for  every  one,  were  accessible  to  every  one  and  largely 
took  the  place  in  the  education  of  the  time,  now  occupied 
by  printed  books.  These  were  just  coming  into  use  in  the 
later  part  of  the  fifteenth  century,  but  had  not  yet  usurped 
the  place  hitherto  filled  by  the  pictures. 

It  is,  moreover,  to  be  constantly  kept  in  view  that  the 
subjects  themselves  were  traditional  and  familiar  to  the 
thought  of  the  time.  Thus  they  were  popular  in  the  best 
sense.  When  we  consider,  finally,  the  nature  of  the  sub- 
jects treated,  as  reg-ards  elevation  of  thought  and  wide 
significancCj  even  apart  from  their  sacred  character,  the 


Fifteenth  Century  Renaissance  Painting.  119 


position  of  Italian  painting  in  the  history  ot  culture  begins 
to  dawn  upon  us. 

There  is,  then,  this  threefold  point  of  view  for  fifteenth 
century  Italian  paintings.  First,  considering  the  arts  of 
drawing  and  painting  in  their  relation  to  visible  nature  and 
in  their  ability  to  represent  it,  as  important  departments 
of  modern  culture,  we  observe  that  fifteenth  century  Italy 
first  acquired  and  developed  this  knowledge  and  that  our 
own  knowledge  is  a  traditional  inheritance  from  this  period. 

Second,  considering  the  general  interest  of  the  early  Re- 
naissance for  modern  history,  it  is  a  great  point  that  we  are 
able  so  closely  to  revive  the  memories  of  this  time  through 
the  medium  of  pictures  which  so  faithfully  portray  the  facts 
of  its  own  life,  although  generally  Biblical  in  subject. 

Third,  we  learn  to  appreciate  the  importance  of  Italian 
art  as  a  part  of  the  intellectual  and  educational  apparatus  of 
the  nation  at  large,  its  large  patronage  for  public  purposes, 
and  the  significance  of  its  subjects  as  revealing  the  interests 
and  modes  of  thought  of  the  common  people. 

As  matter-of-fact  history  concerning  the  development  ot 
this  earliest  Renaissance  style,  we  emphasize  its  wonder- 
fully sudden  first  appearance  in  the  art  of  Masaccio;  con- 
sidering that  the  fourteenth  century  period,  headed  by 
Giotto,  did  not  make  any  advances  beyond  the  limits  he 
himself  had  reached  and  that  the  dates  of  Masaccio' s 
pictures  in  the  Brancacci  Chapel  are  the  very  earliest  dates 
for  anything  in  painting  distinct  from  the  style  of  Giotto. 

Although  the  name  of  Masolino  is  generally  known  as 
that  of  Masaccio' s  teacher,  and  although  his  participation  in 
the  execution  of  certain  frescoes  in  this  chapel  has  been 
asserted  by  Vasari,*  we  should,  admitting  this  participa- 
tion, which  is  doubted  by  the  great  critic,  Jacob  Burck- 

*  Author  of  the  **  Lives  of  the  Artists,"  written  in  the  sixteenth  century. 


150  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


hardt,  still  have  the  same  fact  to  emphasize  regarding  the 
sudden  development  of  the  new  style,  for  the  paintings  by 
Masolino  near  Milan  are  later  than  those  of  the  Florentine 
Chapel. 

As  matter-of-fact  history,  we  again  emphasize  the  absence 

of  any  important  ad- 
vance beyond  the  style 
of  Masaccio  until  the 
very  close  of  the  fif- 
teenth century.  Many 
of  its  later  artists  con- 
tinued its  traditions 
into  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, in  which  they 
overlap  and  post-date 
the  epoch-making 
works  of  that  time. 

In  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, as  related  to  the 
fourteenth,  we  can  only 
quote  one  similar  case 
of  an  overlap  of  style, 
that  of  the  Florentine 
artist,  Fra  Angelico  of 
Fiesole,  who  in  many  ways  reminds  us  of  the  Giotto  period. 
For  piety  and  simple  purity  of  conception  this  artist  monk 
holds  a  place  distinctly  his  own  (Fig.  63). 

We  have  so  far  made  no  mention  of  the  altar  pieces — the 
Madonna  pictures,  pictures  of  saints,  and  Biblical  painting 
on  panel.  These  were  painted  for  shrines,  chapels,  and 
churches,  as  devotional  pictures.  They  consequently  ex- 
hibit a  more  traditional  quality  and  resemble  one  another  as 
types  more  closely  than  the  wall  frescoes,  in  which  con- 


FiG.  62. — Detail  from  the  Fresco  of  *'  Peter  and 
Paul  Curing  the  Sick  and  Lame."  Probably 
by  Masaccio.  Brancacci  Chapel,  Florence. 


Fifteenth  Century  Renaissance  Painting,  121 


temporary  secular  life  was  so  largely  used  to  convey  Bibli- 
cal subjects.  The  idea  of  fifteenth  century  art  derived 
from  these  latter  pictures  would,  for  this  reason,  be  a 
narrow  one — and  yet  they  are  the  only  pictures  which 
foreign  museums  or  galleries  can  display,  because  they  are 
the  only  ones  which  are  transferable  or  portable. 

We  should  remember,  then,  that  such  paintings  represent 
a  minor  field  of  the  whole  art  of  the  time  in  spite  of  their 
number,  interest,  and 
frequent  beauty.  Their 
destination  for  an  altar 
or  shrine  is  to  be  con- 
stantly kept  in  view, 
and  should  not  be 
overlooked  because  the 
picture  has  been  trans- 
ferred to  a  gallery  of 
paintings.  This  desti- 
nation involved  serious 
devotional  appearance 
and  was  characterized 
by  traditional  repeti- 
tions of  certain  set 
arrangements  and 
motives.  As  studied 
in  their  details  these  oil 
paintings  will,  however, 
give  interesting  evi- 
dence of  the  realistic  tendencies  of  the  age,  especially  when 
compared  with  earlier  works. 

A  point  of  much  importance  in  the  estimate  of  these 
panel  pictures  is  that  painting  in  oil  colors,  then  newly  in- 
troduced from  Flanders,  where  the  Van  Eycks  had  first 


Fig.  63. — Detail  from  the  Framing  of  a  Madonna. 
By  Fra  Angelico.   Uffizi  Gallery,  Florence. 


122 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


successfully  practiced  it,  had  not  yet  begun  to  treat  the 
lights  and  shadows,  or  to  represent  the  figures,  with  that 
soft  modelling  which  Da  Vinci  was  the  first  to  practice 
and  teach. 

In  fresco  (painting  on  walls)  distinct  outlines,  without 
shading,  were  the  desideratum,  because  the  balance  of  out- 
lines and  figures  had  to  be  considered  for  architectural  results. 
The  oil  paintings  of  this  period  show  us  in  reality  the  meth- 
ods usual  in  fresco  and  have  consequently  a  certain  hardness 


Fig.  64. — Meeting  of  Mary  and  Elizabeth.    By  Ghirlandajo.  Louvre. 


Fifteenth  Century  Renaissance  Painting. 


123 


and  formalism  of  outlines  which  rather  obscure  their  really- 
faithful  studies  of  the  human  figure  and  of  natural  objects. 

To  this  same  appearance  of  formalism  was  also  contrib- 
utory the  very  anxiety  and  painstaking  efforts  of  art  to 
represent  that  which  was  actual  and  real  in  nature. 

As  far  as  the  names  of  the  painters  are  concerned,  and 
aside  from  those  already  mentioned,  we  feel  disposed  to  lay 
stress  on  those  who  were  related  as  teachers  and  masters  to 
the  great  artists  of  the  next  generation. 

Michael  Angelo,  for  instance,  had  been  an  apprentice  in 
the  studio  of  Ghirlandajo  (frescoes  in  Maria  Novella,  Flor- 
ence) although  his  most  direct  predecessor  as  regards  the 
study  of  the  nude  and 
fore-shortening  of  the 
figure  was  Luca  Si- 
gn ore  Hi  (frescoes  in 
Orvieto). 

Raphael's  master  is 
generally  said  to  have 
been  Perugino,  but  re- 
cent researches  of  the 
great  Italian  critic, 
Giovanni  Morelli,  have 
quite  clearly  proven 
that  Timoteo  della  Vite 
was  Raphael's  first 
teacher  and  that  his 
connection  with  Peru- 
gino was  of  later  date 
than  is  usually  sup- 
posed. 

Leonardo  da  Vinci's  teacher  in  painting  was  Verocchio 
(Verokyo),  who  was  still  more  distinguished  as  a  sculptor. 


Fig.  65. — Detail  from  the  Series  of  Paintings  by 
Carpaccio  for  the  Story  of  St.  Ursula.  Re- 
ception of  the  Enghsh  Ambassadors. 


124  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


All  of  these  names  belong  to  the  Florentine  School.  The 
only  great  rival  school  of  fifteenth  century  painting  was  that 
of  Padua,  headed  by  Mantegna,  whose  specialties  were 
anatomy,  perspective,  and  foreshortening.  The  effort  of 
the  century  to  realize  nature  in  art  with  scientific  exactitude 
reached  its  climax  in  Mantegna  as  far  as  painting  is  con- 
cerned. The  hardness  and  formalism  then  characteristic  of 
this  effort  are  correspondingly  prominent  in  his  work.  In 
the  late  fifteenth  century  we  observe  the  first  activity  of 
Venetian  painters  under  inspirations  drawn  from  the  School 
of  Padua. 

Among  these  earlier  Venetians,  Carpaccio  (Carpatchyo) 
stands  foremost  in  interest  when  the  study  of  the  con- 
temporary Italian  life  is  in  question.  His  series  of  pictures 
in  the  Academy  of  Venice  for  the  life  of  Saint  Ursula  is  a 
famous  authority  for  costumes  and  daily  life  in  fifteenth  cen- 
tury Venice.  The  two  brothers  Bellini  of  Venice,  like 
Perugino,  lived  in  both  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries, 
and  according  as  earlier  or  later  paintings  are  selected  will 
represent  the  style  of  one  or  the  other  century.  The  early 
art  of  Giovanni  Bellini,  the  more  important  of  the  two 
brothers,  will  serve  as  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  hard 
effects  ajid  painstaking  formalism  of  Mantegna  and  the 
Paduan  School,  from  which  he  was  an  oflfshoot. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  PERFECTION  OF  ITALIAN  PAINTING. 


We  may  leave  the  fifteenth  century  style  with  some  re- 
marks regarding  the  frequency  of  the  Madonna,  saints,  and 
Biblical  subjects,  subsequently  to  continue^ 

We  occasionally  hear  complaints  from  modern  travelers 
as  to  the  limited  range  of  the  old  Italian  subjects  and  their 
constant  repetitions. 
Mark  Twain's  ''Inno- 
cents Abroad' '  contains 
many  allusions  of  this 
nature,  jocose  in  them- 
selves and  well  enough 
in  a  professedly  comic 
book,  but  very  signif- 
icant reminders  also  of 
remarks  otherwise 
made  seriously.  This 
complaint  overlooks 
the  point  that  the  fact 
of  repetition  was  es- 
sential to  the  greatness 
of  Italian  art.  The 
repetition  of  subject 
argues  a  popular  de- 
mand, and  this  demand 

argues  a  popular  interest.  This  popular  interest  is  the 
necessary  support  of  all  great  art,  which  cannot  exist  with- 

125 


Fig.  66. — Detail  of  a  Madonna  by  Filippo  Lippi. 
Pitti  Palace,  Florence. 


126 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


out  it,  and  which  can  never  become  great  simply  by  the 
patronage  of  persons  of  wealth.  The  subject  which  can  be 
repeated  is  the  subject  which  has  general  interest  in  the 

time  which  called  for  it. 
More  than  this,  we 
assert  that  the  subjects 
of  Italian  art  were 
worth  repeating,  and 
that  the  later  substi- 
tution of  literature  for 
art  is  our  only  excuse, 
and  possibly  an  insuf- 
ficient one,  for  our  own 
modern  lack  of  a  cor- 
responding Biblical  art. 
The  fact  of  repetition 
does  not  imply  any- 
thing but  an  absorption 
of  the  public  mind  in  a 
certain  range  of  sub- 
jects, for  the  artist  re- 
flects his  age.  Our  first 
point  of  view  with  old 
pictures  is  to  ask  what 
they  teach  us  about  the  people  for  whom  they  were  made. 

It  may  be  said  next  that  both  with  Greek  statues  and 
Italian  paintings,  the  repetition  of  subjects  involved  in  the 
national  interest  in  those  subjects  is  what  led  to  the  ultimate 
great  technical  achievements  of  the  men  of  great  genius. 
It  was  also  the  explanation  of  the  great  average  perfection 
of  art  during  given  generations,  for  average  perfection 
means,  of  course,  that  the  artist  of  ordinary  or  inferior 
capacity  did  comparatively  better  than  would  be  naturally 


Fig.  67.— Virgin  Adoring  the  Infant  Savior. 
By  Lorenzo  di  Credi.  London. 


Philosophy  of  the  Perfection  of  Italian  Painting,  127 


expected.  On  this  last  head  it  is  clear  that  the  artist  ol 
subordinate  talent,  working  for  a  demand  which  repeats  the 
subject,  is  able  to  profit  by  the  conceptions  of  his  greater 
predecessors  or  contemporaries.  In  other  words,  not  only 
the  subject  but  also  the  treatment  is  to  a  large  extent  tra- 
ditional. 

Originality  of  conception  was  not  forced  upon  an  artist 
who  did  not  possess  it.  It  was  not  even  demanded  of  an 
artist  of  genius  or  of 
high  rank.  Raphael's 
''Betrothal  of  Mary 
and  Joseph,"  in  Milan, 
copies  closely  a  picture 
by  Perugino.  The 
pose  of  the  figures  on 
Ghiberti's  doors  was 
borrowed  by  the  same 
painter.  The  paintings 
of  Leonardo's  pupils 
are  with  difficulty  dis- 
tinguished from  those 
of  the  master.  Repe- 
tition, not  only  of  sub- 
ject, but  also  of  poses 
and  conceptions,  was 
the  rule  rather  than  the 


FiG.e 


.—The  Virgin  and  Child  with  two  Saints. 
Perugino.  London. 


exception. 

The  evolution  ol 
scientific  design  was  much  assisted  by  these  conditions,  as 
the  artist  of  superior  genius  started  with  a  fund  of  ready- 
made  and  traditional  knowledge  for  the  given  subject,  to 
which  he  was  able  to  add  something  of  his  own.  The 
great  watchword,  ''cooperation,"  was  appHed,  practically, 


128 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


p'iG.  69,— Martyrdom  of  St.  Sebastian.  PoUajuolo. 
Pitti  Palace,  Florence, 


in  Italian  art  long  be- 
fore theorists  had 
worked  out  its  impor- 
tance for  social  prob- 
lems. We  may  point 
this  moral  by  allusion 
to  the  St.  Sebastian 
subject.  This  was  for 
nearly  two  centuries 
the  one  type  in  which 
the  nude  form  was  con- 
stantly  studied  (Fig. 

69). 

We  must  not  forget 
that  both  with  the 
Greeks  and  the  Ital- 
ians the  repetition  ol 
subject  means  that  art 
existed  to  represent  and 
teach  belief — in  other 
words,  it  means  that 
art  was  religious. 

The  first  and  main 
advantage  of  Italian 
painting  over  all  which 
has  followed  was  that 
the  subject-matter  itselt 
was  superior  in  im- 
portance to  any  which 
the  art  of  painting  has 
since  handled.  It  was 
Christian  art  in  the  best 
and  highest  sense,  and 


Philosophy  of  the  Perfection  of  Italian  Painting,  129 


in  such  a  sense  that  all  beliefs  and  all  sects  of  our  own  time 
unite  in  proclaiming  its  greatness.  Just  as  we  may,  and 
do,  in  a  strictly  literary  sense,  consider  the  Bible  as  great 
and  classic  literature  because  its  style  is  a  living  reflex  of  its 
noble  and  inspired  teaching,  so  may  the  Italian  art  of  the 
early  sixteenth  century  be  viewed  as  a  translation  of  the 
Bible  into  the  language  of  forms,  fully  worthy  of  the  great 
original.  The  story  of  Genesis  was  told  on  the  ceiling  of 
the  Sistine  Chapel  in  a  way  which  revived  the  old  Hebrew 
simplicity  and  grandeur  of  Genesis  itself  The  lives  of  the 
Apostles  live  again  in  the  cartoons  and  tapestries  of  Ra- 
phael, and  the  treachery  of  Judas  has  gone  down  to  history 
in  the  great  fresco  of  Da  Vinci,  as  well  as  in  the  translation 
of  King  James  the  First,  or  the  Revised  Version. 

That  only  a  highly  refined  and  cultivated  general  taste 
ind  a  generally  high  level  of  civilization  could  account  for 
^  he  great  pictures  of  the  sixteenth  century  is  also  apparent, 
cfter  slender  knowledge  of  them.  Whether  we  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  this  civilization  first  through  the  picture,  as 
many  of  us  do,  or  whether  we  come  to  the  picture  through 
a  knowledge  of  the  civilization,  as  some  few  of  us  do — 
makes  little  difference.  Each  helps  to  explain  and  illustrate 
the  other. 

We  shall,  then,  at  the  outset  abandon  the  idea  that  we 
are  dealing  with  a  phenomenal  existence  of  some  five  or  six 
' '  Old  Masters, ' '  who  happened  fortuitously  and  by  some 
strange  accident  to  have  been  born  within  the  limits  of  one 
generation  some  four  hundred  years  ago.  We  shall  rather 
consider  these  few  artists  as  only  the  tallest  among  many 
other  giants — the  waves  which  rise  a  little  higher  than  the 
ocean  of  their  fellows. 

The  average  excellence  of  Italian  painting  between  1500 
and  1530  is  a  much  more  remarkable  fact  than  the  existence 


130  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


of  its  first-quoted  and  much-quoted  phenomenal  geniuses. 

This  average  excellence  is  one  phase  and  one  illustration 
of  a  perfection  of  civilization  and  of  that  high  degree  of 
material  prosperity  in  the  most  modern  sense,  which  I  have 
previously  endeavored  to  describe  in  matter  introductory  to 
the  architecture  of  the  Renaissance  and  tending  to  explain 
its  subsequent  diffusion  and  still  continuing  traditional 
power. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  * '  Last  Supper, ' '  of  Leo- 
nardo da  Vinci  (Vinchy)  in  Milan,  fixes  the  high-water 
mark  of  Italian  painting  after  which  the  tide  stood  at  its 
full  till  1530.  To  comprehend  the  incredible  industry, 
activity,  and  ambition  of  the  Italian  painters  in  the  inter- 
vening time,  we  must  remember  the  great  patronage  de- 
voted to  their  art,  the  great  wealth  of  the  cities,  princes, 
popes,  and  prelates  whom  they  served,  the  stirring  life  and 
stirring  rivalries  of  these  small  Italian  States  in  which,  for 
the  time  being,  all  the  vigor  of  later  modern  civilization 
was  bottled  and  confined. 

Industries  and  pursuits  were  not  specialized,  as  in  later 
times;  the  great  painters  were  generally  sculptors,  archi- 
tects, and  engineers  in  the  bargain.  Many  others  were 
jewelers  and  designers  in  metal.  The  architect  Brunellesco 
was  a  competitor  for  the  commission  of  designing  the  first 
set  of  bronze  doors  for  the  Florence  Baptistery  which  were 
done  by  Ghiberti,  and  otherwise  ranked  as  one  of  the 
leading  sculptors  of  his  day.  The  architect  Michelozzo 
was  the  greatest  bronze-caster  of  his  time,  and  actually  cast 
the  famous  bronze  doors  designed  by  Ghiberti.  Fra  Gio- 
condo,  who,  after  Bramante,  was  for  some  time  employed 
on  St.  Peter's  Church,  is  thought,  by  Jacob  Burckhardt,  to 
have  been  the  greatest  architect  of  his  day,  but  he  figures 
in  Vasari's  '^Lives''  especially  as  a  painter,  and  the  most 


Philosophy  of  the  Perfection  of  Italian  Painting.  131 


interesting  story  told  of  his  life  concerns  his  talent  in  nur- 
sery gardening.  He  was  also  a  civil  engineer,  and  a  man 
of  letters  of  such  distinction  that  we  owe  to  him  the  dis- 
covery, in  the  Library  at  Paris,  of  the  Letters  of  Pliny. 
It  was  this  same  Fra  Giocondo  who  first  published  in  print 
the  announcement  of  the  discovery  of  the  New  World.* 
Michael  Angelo  was  poet,  engineer,  military  general,  poli- 
tician, architect,  sculptor,  and  painter.  Leonardo  da  Vinci 
was  an  improvising  poet,  a  musician  who  was  able  also  to 
make  his  own  instruments,  an  athlete,  an  anatomist,  an 
author,  a  civil  and  military  engineer,  an  expert  in  the  con- 
struction of  canals,  as  well  as  architect,  sculptor,  and 
painter.  His  accomplishments  included  also  a  knowledge 
of  botany,  mathematics,  and  astronomy.  He  is  the  first 
modern  by  whom  hints  for  the  later  science  of  geology  were 
given. 


*  Fiske's  "  Discovery  of  America  " — the  other  facts  in  Vasari. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI. 


To  SAY  that  Leonardo  da  Vinci  was  foremost  in  time  and 
the  equal  of  any  sixteenth  century  painter,  is  to  say  that 
he  was  the  greatest,  for  this  was  a  period  when  no  new  artist 
failed  to  profit  by  everything  which  had  been  done  up  to 
date. 

This  artist  was  born  near  Florence  in  the  middle  of  the 

fifteenth  century 
(1452).  We  must 
therefore  concede  that 
he  had  reached  the 
maturity  of  his  powers 
long  before  the  open- 
ing of  the  sixteenth 
century.  We  cannot, 
however,  point  to  any 
decisive  revolution  in 
fifteenth  century  style, 
owing  to  his  influence 
or  otherwise,  before 
the  close  of  the  cen- 
tury. This  may  be 
attributed  mainly  to 
the  very  small  number 
of  paintings  produced 
by  him  before  the  time 
of  the  ''Last  Supper."  This  again  would  be  explained 
by  his  versatility  of  pursuits  and  occupations  as  ^bove 

132 


Fig.  70. — Portrait  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci.  (Doubt- 
fully ^scribed  to  himself  as  artist.) 
Uffizi  Gallery,  Florence. 


Leonardo  da  Vinci, 


133 


described,  and  also  by  his  long  and  arduous  devotion  to 
self- training  by  technical  experiments  and  technical  studies, 
as  distinct  from  an  activity  devoted  to  the  production  of 
completed  paintings  for  sale  and  public  inspection. 

At  present  perhaps  a  dozen  pictures  or  less  would  cover 
the  number  definitely 
known  as  his.  The 
wonderful  quality  of 
these  becomes  still 
more  wonderful  when 
we  compare  the  con- 
temporary and  just 
preceding  work.  Hard 
and  distinct  outline  had 
been  the  rule  alike  for 
fresco  and  oil  painting. 
Da  Vinci  was  the  first 
to  differentiate  these 
arts  and  to  distinguish 
between  the  decorative 
and  architectural  con- 
ditions of  the  wall- 
painting,  and  the  pos- 
sibilities of  illusion  in 
oil  painting  attainable 
by  the  use  of  lights  and 

shadows.  He  was  the  first  to  perceive  that  forms  in  nature 
are  rarely  seen  in  hard  outlines,  but  rather  in  masses  of 
color,  and  to  realize  that  insistance  on  the  outline  in  paint- 
ing must  be  at  the  expense  of  realistic  illusion,  for  we  thus 
become  aware  that  the  background  is  a  surface  and  not  a 
background.  In  architectural  painting  it  is  desirable,  how- 
ever, that  the  background  should  appear  as  a  surface ;  nor 


Fig.  71.—"  La  Gioconda."    Portrait  by  Da  Vinci, 
Louvre, 


134  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


did  Da  Vinci  or  his  followers  depart  from  this  point  of 
view  in  wall-painting,  although  he  employed  oil  color  for 
the  ' '  Last  Supper. ' '  In  panel  painting,  his  great  art  in  the 
modeling  of  the  figure  was,  however,  to  present  it  as 
merging  into  the  background,  and  yet  as  projected  from  it. 
The  sense  of  mystery  inspired  by  his  handling  has  such 
effect  on  the  imagination  that  we  cease  to  say  to  ourselves : 
''This  is  only  a  picture.''  The  picture  itself  becomes  a 
mysterious  reality,  something  to  be  considered  and  thought 
over,  gradually  coming  nearer  to  us  as  we  consider  it,  or  re- 
ceding as  we  abandon 
serious  contemplation 
of  it.  It  is,  in  fact, 
itself  a  creation  of  in- 
tellect and  of  thought. 

His  most  famous  oil 
painting  is  the  portrait 
of  a  lady  in  the  Louvre, 
known  as  ''La  Gio- 
conda,"  a  still  world- 
famous  picture,  which 
was  purchased  for  a 
large  sum  by  the 
French  king,  Francis 
I.,  during  the  lifetime 
of  the  artist. 

In  this  painting  and 
in  the  picture  of  the 
Virgin  and  St.  Anne 
in  the  same  Collection,  we  find  a  mastery  of  light  and 
shadow  and  of  modeling  which  our  earlier  illustrations  of 
Italian  painting  have  not  revealed.  The  shadows  of  his 
pictures  as  darkened  by  time,  make  them,  however,  diffi- 


FiG.  72. — The  Virgin  and  St.  Anne.   Da  Vinci. 
Louvre. 


Leonardo  da  Vinci. 


135 


cult  subjects  for  photograph.  In  oil  painting,  Da  Vinci 
was  undoubtedly  the  first  modern  artist  who  reached  com- 
plete success. 

The  type  of  face  which  he  affected  in  female  subjects  has 
a  refined  and  subtle  character.  In  the  ^'Gioconda"  we 
find  it  difficult,  for  instance,  to  decide  whether  or  no  the 
face  be  smiling.  As  regards  the  number  of  oil  paintings 
positively  ascribed  to  him,  the  march  of  criticism  in  recent 
years  has  more  and  more  tended  to  reverse  previous  attri- 
butions and  assign  works  to  his  scholars  which  bear  his 
name.  This  is  at  least  a  credit  to  the  capacities  of  his 
pupils  and  to  his  profound  influence  on  Italian  painting. 

Da  Vinci's  epoch-making  work  was  the  "  Last  Supper,'' 
painted  on  the  wall  of  the  Refectory  of  the  Convent  ot 
Santa  Maria  delle  Grazie,  in  Milan;  and  no  other  wall- 
painting  now  remains  from  his  hand.* 

In  the  year  following  its  completion  (or  to  be  assumed  as 
year  of  completion,  for  we  only  know  positively  that  it  was 
finished  before  1499),  the  artist  was  driven  from  Milan  by 
the  French  invasion,  which  overthrew  the  rule  of  the  duke 
who  was  his  patron  and  protector.  His  subsequent  career 
was  much  disturbed  by  the  complications  of  Italian  politics, 
and  his  last  years  were  spent  in  France,  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  king,  Francis  I.,  whose  personal  friendship  he 
enjoyed.    He  died  at  Amboise  in  1519. 

In  the  **Last  Supper,"  Italian  painting  reached  its 
climax.  Although  much  damaged  by  flaking  off",  by  re- 
painting of  the  faces,  .and  other  injuries  (a  door,  for 
instance,  was  broken  through  the  wall  beneath),  the 
picture  still  has  an  indescribable  effect  of  mysterious  power 
over  the  spectator.    This  is  attributable,  in  the  first  in- 


*  The  fresco  in  the  Convent  of  San  Onofrio,  at  Rome,  is  now  ascribed  to  Bel- 
traffio. 


Leonardo  da  Vinci, 


137 


stance,  to  its  dimensions;  the  individual  figures  being 
nearly  double  life-size.  The  fine  harmony  of  color,  dra- 
matic power,  and  psychologic  insight  into  character 
displayed  by  varied  gesture  and  expression,  the  way  in 
which  the  action  cumulates  toward  the  figure  of  the 
Savior,  the  dispersion  into  groups,  each  with  its  own 
distinct  story,  are  some  of  the  elements  contributing  to  this 
effect.  Nor  should  we  underrate  the  influence  of  the 
subject  itself.  There  is  no  moment  in  the  story  of  the 
Passion  of  such  far-reaching  significance,  and  its  portrayal 
was  a  fitting  subject  for  the  crowning  effort  of  Italian  art. 

All  engravings  of  this  painting  fail  to  suggest  its  power 
by  virtue  of  a  certain  flatness  in  the  outlined  effect.  In 
the  photograph  we  realize  more  clearly  the  varieties  ol 
plane  in  the  grouping  of  the  apostles.  Finally,  it  is 
apparent,  in  this  picture  above  all  others,  how  a  profound 
knowledge  of  human  nature  must  underlie  the  talent  of  the 
hand  and  eye  when  a  great  work  of  art  is  in  question. 

It  will  most  easily  define  the  relations  of  later  Italian 
painting  to  Da  Vinci,  to  specify  the  ages  of  the  great  con- 
temporary artists  when  this  work  was  finished.  Raphael, 
for  instance,  was  only  fifteen  years  of  age  and  Correggio 
was  but  four  years  old.  Michael  Angelo  was  twenty-three 
years  old,  Titian  was  twenty-one  years  old. 

Knowing,  as  we  do,  the  active  rivalry  at  this  time  of  the 
Italian  artists  and  their  eagerness  to  learn  from  one  another, 
it  would  be  clear,  simply  from  this  comparison  of  dates, 
what  Leonardo's  influence  must  have  been.  His  compe- 
tition with  Michael  Angelo  five  years  later  for  a  commission 
to  decorate  the  Municipal  Palace  of  Florence,  shows  the 
rapidity  with  which  the  younger  artists  were  pushing 
forward.  The  cartoon  drawings  made  for  this  competition 
were  never  executed  and  were  subsequently  destroyed. 


138  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


All  that  is  known  of  them  is  by  the  engravings  from 
fragments  known  as  the  ' '  Battle  of  the  Standard ' '  by  Da 
Vinci  and  the  ''Bathing  Soldiers"  by  Michael  Angelo. 


Fig.  74.— Fresco  by  Luini  at  Lugano.    The  Virgin, 
Infant  Jesus,  and  Infant  John. 


To  the  influence  ol  these  cartoons  on  contemporary  art, 
about  and  after  1504,  is  ascribed  the  final  flower  of  Italian 
painting. 

The  personal  pupils  and  followers  of  Leonardo  must  be 
distinguished  from  the  mass  of  Italian  painters,  who  were 
ultimately  and  more  indirectly  influenced  by  him.  Among 
the  former,  Luini  is  the  most  distinguished  in  general 
reputation  as  regards  close  connection  with  Da  Vinci,  but 
the  influence  of  Fra  Bartolommeo  of  Florence  was  more 
distinctly  powerful  as  mediating  between  the  great  painter 
and  the  artists  of  a  contemporaneous  but  younger  genera- 
tion. On  Raphael  the  influence  of  Fra  Bartolommeo  is  espe- 
cially apparent  and  very  generally  recognized. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


RAPHAEL  SANTI   OF  URBINO. 


There  are  certain  reasons  for  making  a  central  figure  of 
this  artist  in  a  brief  account  of  the  zenith  of  ItaHan  paint- 
ing, aside  from  his  undeniable  distinction  as  a  painter,  and 
without  prejudice  to  the  distinction  of  his  great  contempo- 
raries. 

Raphael  was  much  more  prolific  in  the  production  of 
pictures  than  Da  Vinci, 
more  intellectual  and 
more  monumental  in 
his  art  than  Titian  or 
Correggio,  and  in  the 
duration  of  his  life  and 
in  his  style  more  strictly 
confined  to  the  greatest 
period  of  Italian  art 
than  Michael  Angelo. 
It  was  the  fate  of  the 
latter  to  live  into  the 
time  of  the  decadence, 
and  in  some  ways  to 
influence  and  deter- 
mine its  character. 

It  will  be  worth 
while  here,  for  a  mo- 
ment, to  turn  back  to 
the  illustration  of  the 


Fig.  75.-— House  in  Urbino  where  Raphael 
was  born. 


palace  built  for  the  dukes  of  Ur- 
139 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


bino,  as  reminder  of  the  existence  of  the  state  which  was 
Raphael's  home  (Fig.  35). 

Two  facts  in  the  history  of  the  little  state  of  Urbino  are 

significant  for  the  re- 
lation of  Raphael  to 
general  Italian  history. 
One  is  that  its  library, 
as  subsequently  united 
with  the  library  of  the 
Vatican,  was  the  most 
important  addition  ever 
made  to  the  latter,  and 
the  library  of  the  Vati- 
can is  the  most  im- 
portant historic  library, 
of  the  world.  A  state 
whose  dukes  were  thus 
fond  of  books  was  natur- 
ally fitted  to  be  an  im- 
portant center  of  Italian 
culture.  What  this  im- 
portance was  may  now 
be  argued  from  a  curious 
fact  in  the  history  of  the 
popes. 

In  the  history  of  the  Renaissance  the  court  of  Pope  Leo 
X.  (1513-1521)  is  generally  held  up  to  admiration  as  the 
center  of  art  and  learning,  as  the  culmination  of  the  glories 
of  the  Renaissance.  It  is  not  so  generally  understood  that 
the  artists  and  men  of  learning  who  surrounded  Leo  X. 
were  mainly  inherited  by  him  from  the  preceding  pope, 
Julius  II.,  who  was  the  first  great  patron  of  Bramante,  of 
Michael  Angelo,  and  of  Raphael;  the  projector  of  the 


Fig.  76. — The  Camera  della  Segnatura  in  the 
Vatican  as  decorated  by  Raphael,  and 
showing  a  Portion  of  the  "  Phil- 
osophy or  *'  School  of  Athens." 


Raphael  Santi  of  Urbino. 


141 


Sistine  Chapel  and  Vatican  frescoes,  of  the  Raphael  car- 
toons, and  of  St.  Peter's  Church.  Now  Julius  II.  be- 
longed to  the  family  of  Rovere,  which  was  connected  by 
marriage  with  the  family  of  the  dukes  of  Urbino.  It  was 
from  the  connections  and  associates  of  the  court  of  Urbino 
that  he  drew  together  the  circle  of  great  men,  which  ulti- 
mately made  the  reputation  of  the  court  of  Leo  X. 

This  fact  has  a  double  significance.  It  illustrates  the  in- 
tellectual atmosphere  which  influenced  Raphael's  boyhood. 
His  own  father  was 
court  poet  as  well  as 
court  painter.  It  also 
explains  how  the  trans- 
fer of  Raphael's  activ- 
ity to  Rome,  in  1508, 
made  when  he  was 
only  twenty-five  years 
old,  placed  him  among 
acquaintances  to  whom 
he  was  already  favor- 
ably known. 

In  this  center  of  in- 
tellectual and  personal 
refinement  Raphael's 
engaging  personality 
and  kindly  nature 
combined  with  his  un- 
tiring industry,  great . 

talents,  and  rapidly  acquired  fame  to  make  him  a  leading 
figure. 

Both  in  the  methods  and  subjects  of  his  art  he  was  des- 
tined to  become  the  representative  painter  of  the  classic 
and  literary  enthusiasms  of  the  Renaissance.    These  found 


Fig,  77. — Plato  and  Aristotle.    From  the  "  School 
of  Athens."   Vatican.    By  Raphael. 


142  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


their  culmination  in  his  great  wall-paintings  in  the  Vatican 
known  as  ' '  Philosophy, "  or  ' '  The  School  of  Athens  ' ' ; 
' '  Poetry,  "or  The  Parnassus  "  ;  ^  *  Jurisprudence ' ' ;  and 
' '  Theology. ' '  All  the  knowledge  that  the  science  of  de- 
sign in  Italy  had  mastered  in  ten  years  following  the  com- 
pletion of  the  '  '  Last 
Supper  ^ '  was  also  at 
his  command. 

To  this  hard-earned 
knowledge,  first  won 
by  other  artists,  was 
added  his  own  distin- 
guished talent  as 
painter  and  draughts- 
man and  a  peculiar  tact 
in  the  arrangement, 
balance,  and  spacing, 
of  his  compositions. 

As  a  composer  of 
designs  in  and  for 
architectural  surround- 
ing and  on  architec- 
tural surfaces,  Raphael 
stands  without  a  rival 
in  modern  art.  In  Michael  Angelo  we  admire  the  vol- 
canic genius,  the  colossal  power;  in  Raphael  we  find  a 
calmer,  better  balanced,  and,  so  to  speak,  more  architec- 
tural spirit. 

It  is,  then,  in  the  relation  of  outlines  to  surrounding 
space  and  framing  that  his  distinctive  mastery  lies.  This 
most  conspicuous  quality  of  his  oil  paintings  reflects  his 
architectural  training  and  architectural  point  of  view.  To 
this  was  added  a  perception  for  pure  and  spiritual  beauty  in 


Fig.  78. — Apollo.    Detail  of  the  "  Parnassus  "  by 
Raphael.  Vatican. 


Raphael  Santi  of  Urbano. 


143 


women  and  in  children,  and  for  noble  dignity  in  men.  All 
these  qualities  are  revealed  in  that  room  of  the  Vatican,  the 
Camera  della  Segnatura  ( ' '  Room  of  the  Signature, ' '  that 
is  to  say,  the  pope's  office)  which  he  began  to  decorate  in 
1508  with  the  frescoes  whose  subjects  have  been  named 
above. 

At  a  later  date  Raphael  executed  the  ten  monumental 
designs  for  tapestry  pictures  of  the  Lives  of  the  Apostles 


Fig.  79. — Detail  from  the  "Jurisprudence."    By  Raphael.  Vatican. 

whose  cartoons  (as  far  as  preserved)  are  now  in  the  South 
Kensington  Museum  of  London,  while  the  tapestries  them- 
selves are  preserved  in  duplicate  sets  in  Berlin  and  in  the 
Vatican  (the  latter  formerly  in  the  Sistine  Chapel). 

Between  the  dates  of  these  two  monumental  sets  of  works 


144 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


he  executed  the  fresco  decoration  of  several  Vatican  rooms 
adjoining  the  Camera  della  Segnatura,  and  a  series  of  over 
fifty  designs  from  Old  Testament  history  known  as  * '  Ra- 
phael's  Bible."    These  last  were  executed  by  scholars  on 

the  ceiling  of  the  Vati- 
can corridor  designed 
by  Bramante,  and 
known  as  the  ' '  Log- 
gie"  (lodgeay)  of 
Raphael  (Fig.  58). 

To  this  catalogue  of 
untiring  activity  we 
must  now  add  the  fres- 
coes from  classic  sub- 
jects (the  story  ol 
Cupid  and  Psyche) 
executed  by  scholars 
on  the  ceiling  of  the 
Farnesina  Villa  and  an 
enormous  number  of 
oil  paintings;  Madon- 
nas, Biblical  subjects, 
and  portraits. 

Of  his  Madonnas  the 
''Sistine,"  in  Dresden,  is  the  largest,  most  imposing,  and 
most  famous.  Of  his  other  oil  paintings  the  ' '  Transfigur- 
ation ' '  of  the  Vatican  Gallery  is  the  most  celebrated. 

His  portraits  are  marvels  of  character  portrayal  and  a 
perpetual  monument  to  the  intellectual  refinement  and  cul- 
tivation of  his  time.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  quality  of  his 
painting  has  a  peculiar  solidity  and  strength  combined  with 
refinement  of  finish.  When  we  consider  the  enormous 
amount  and  the  even  quality  of  his  personal  work  (as  dis- 


FiG.  80.— Detail  of  the  "Madonna  in  the 
Meadow."    By  Raphael.  Vienna. 


Raphael  Santi  of  Urbino, 


H5 


tinct  from  that  of  some  frescoes  on  which  scholars  were  em- 
ployed) he  appears  as  a  miracle  of  industry  as  well  as  of 
art. 

We  have  already  quoted  Raphael's  activity  as  the  archi- 
tect of  several  palaces  in  Rome  and  Florence  and  as  succes- 
sor of  Bramante  in  the  construction  of  St.  Peter's.    As  a 


Fig.  8i. — Detail  from  the  "  Betrothal  of  Mary  and  Joseph." 
By  Raphael.  Milan. 


sculptor,  we  are  able  to  mention  at  least  two  statues  from 
his  models,  the  ''Jonah"  in  Rome  and  the  ''Cupid  with 
the  Dolphin  ' '  in  St.  Petersburg. 

One  of  my  illustrations  has  been  chosen  to  show 
Raphael's  early  relations  to  fifteenth  century  art  (Fig.  8i). 
The  "Betrothal  of  Mary  and  Joseph"  is  closely  copied 
from  a  Perugino  now  at  Caen,  in  northern  France.  The 


146  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


faces  of  Perugino's  paintings  (Fig.  68)  are  constantly 
repeated  in  Raphael's  early  pictures.  I  do  not  bring  this 
up  as  a  fact  remarkable  in  itself,  but  as  illustrating  what  I 
have  already  said  regarding  cooperation,  tradition,  and  the 
repetition  of  subjects  in  Italian  art  (p.  127).  This  picture 
is  also  interesting  as  illustrating  (in  a  small  oil  painting) 
the  style  of  composition  and  arrangement  of  figures  com- 
mon to  most  frescoes  of  the  fifteenth  century.    It  would 

serve,  in  fact,  as  an 
excellent  type  of  illus- 
tration for  that  period 
of  fresco. 

I  am  inclined  to  add 
a  word  regarding  the 
point  in  which  Raphael 
must  be  considered  as 
the  superior  of  all  later 
moderns  who  have  so 
far  attempted  similar 
monumental  deco- 
rations. The  number 
of  these  is  not  large, 
and  in  all  modern  art 
Kaulbach' s  frescoes  on 
the  walls  of  the  great 
staircase  of  the  Berlin 
Museum  are  probably 
the  nearest  approach  to  a  similar  scale  and  class  of  subjects. 

Although  Raphael's  period  was  one  of  great  proficiency 
in  drawing,  of  refinement  in  the  harmonious  use  of  colors, 
and  of  a  quick  and  spontaneous  interest  in  seizing  the 
active  motion  of  the  body  in  moments  and  poses  having 
both  dignity  and  beauty  when  arrested  perpetually  by 


Fig.  82.— Detail  of  the  Portrait  of  Angiolo  Doni. 
By  Raphael.    Pitti  Palace. 


Raphael  Santi  of  Urbino, 


147 


art — we  cannot  say  that  science  in  design  is  alone  the 
secret  of  its  success.  Were  this  the  case,  it  would  be  hard 
to  understand  why  a  modern  as  conscientious  and  as  pro- 
ficient as  Kaulbach 
should  take  a  lower 
rank.  We  must  real- 
ize, as  one  element  of 
superiority,  the  habit 
of  off-hand,  bold,  and 
rapid  work  cultivated 
by  the  art  of  painting 
on  plaster.  Our  mod- 
ern art  is  not  offered 
sufficient  practice  in 
wall  decoration,  and  in 
life-size  figure  compo- 
sition, to  cultivate  in 
the  artist  the  same 
security  and  self-confi- 
dence in  his  own  re- 
sources. He  may  by 
a  great  exertion  of  care 
and  personal  effort 
reach  a  comparable 
stage  of  perfection  in 
his  science,  but  he  will  have  sacrificed  in  the  very  labor- 
iousness  of  his  effort  the  dash  and  spirit,  the  off-hand  free- 
dom of  the  old  design.  The  key  to  the  effect  of  a  large 
work  of  art  lies  in  a  relation  of  the  parts  to  the  whole, 
in  which  an  over-careful  finish  of  details  has  not  destroyed 
the  effect  of  concentration,  the  pow^er  of  the  leading 
thought.  Elaboration  of  detail  is  suited  to  a  small  oil 
painting,  but  not  to  a  large  one — certainly  not  to  a  wall- 


FiG.  83.— Portrait  of  Maddalena  Doni.  By 
Raphael.    Pitti  Palace,  Florence. 


148 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


painting.  Far  apart  as  is  the  art  of  the  modern  Japanese 
and  the  Itahan  art,  the  former  offers  the  best  parallel  when 
the  suggestiveness  of  an  effect  as  attained  by  a  limitation  of 
detail  is  in  question.  The  photograph  details  of  Raphael's 
frescoes  (shown  in  this  chapter)  will  give  valuable  hints  on 
this  point. 

We  may  again  suggest  that  the  dignity,  reserve,  and 

nobility  of  Raphael's 
art  are  attainable  only 
when  the  artist  is  work- 
ing for  a  public  which 
is  certain  to  appreciate 
his  effort,  because  its 
own  best  thoughts  and 
noblest  ideas  have  been 
translated  for  it  into 
form.  In  this  element 
of  perfection  we  come 
back  to  the  point  of 
view  that  the  greatest 
art  does  not  represent 
simply  the  thought  of 
the  artist,  but  that  it 
must  also  represent  the 
overflow  and  the  reflex 
of  the  best  thought  of 
the  age  to  which  he  belongs.  The  nineteenth  century 
more  generally  expects  from  the  poet,  the  man  of  letters, 
and  the  musical  composer,  what  the  Italian  Renaissance 
asked  from  the  artist  in  design. 

Raphael  died  in  1520,  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven.  He 
was  born  in  1483 — the  birth-year  of  Luther.  The  most 
recent  and  exhaustive  history  of  the  artist's  life  is  by 


Fig.  84. — Detail  of  the  "Transfiguration' 
Raphael.    Vatican  Gallery. 


by 


Raphael  Santi  of  Urbino, 


149 


Muntz.  The  work  of  Passavant,  though  written  eariier  in 
our  century,  is  still  valuable.  The  life  by  Vasari  ("Lives 
of  the  Artists  "  )  is  short  and  readable,  giving  practically  all 
that  is  known  of  the  person  and  social  life  of  the  artist. 
Vasari' s  book  was  written  about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  is  the  main  original  authority  for  the  lives  of  all 
the  Italian  painters  who  lived  before  that  time.  Although 
in  matters  of  criticism,  and  in  matters  of  detail,  it  is  occa- 
sionally open  to  correction  and  revision,  the  fact  that  its 
writer  lived  in  the  same  period  with  the  subjects  of  his  inter- 
esting sketches,  gives  his  book  unique  worth.  The  English 
translation  (Bohn  Edition)  successfully  follows  the  quaint 
style  of  the  original. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

MICHAEL  ANGELO  BUONARROTI. 

Where  the  element  of  character  and  personaHty  is  so 
largely  involved  in  our  estimate  of  an  artist's  work, 
as  it  is  with  this  painter,  we  should  do  well  to  bear  in 
mind  the  importance  of  his  statues  (see  forward)  as  assist- 
ing us  to  comprehend  and  place  him.    Michael  Angelo's 

position  as  a  painter  is 
fixed  solely  by  his 
works  in  the  Sistine 
Chapel.  His  few  panel 
pictures,  three  or  four 
in  number,  are  not 
much  more  than  inter- 
esting curiosities,  when 
large  facts  are  in  ques- 
tion. 

In  this  Chapel,  where 
his  great  triumph  as  a 
painter  was  celebrated, 
we  must  first  distin- 
guish between  the 
^^Last  Judgment," 
painted  late  in  life  on 
its  end  wall,  and  the 
much  earlier  ceiling 
frescoes  for  the  ' '  Story  of  Genesis, ' '  with  the  attendant  dec- 
orative compositions. 

150 


Fig.  85.— Bust  of  Michael  Angelo,  dating  1570. 
From  his  Tomb  in  Church  of  Santa  Croce, 
Florence.    By  Battista  Lorenzi. 


Michael  Angela  Buonarroti. 


The  whole  Chapel  with  its  earlier  fifteenth  century  frescoes 
on  the  side  walls,  below  which  were  once  hung  the  tapes- 
tries of  Raphael,  is  a  fine  reminder  of  the  ideals  of  the 


Fig.  86.— Creation  of  the  Sun  and  Moon.   Detail  from  the  CeiUng  of 
the  Sistine  Chapel. 

Renaissance  in  the  matter  of  interior  decoration.  This 
apartment,  which  still  serves  as  the  papal  chapel  of  the 
Vatican,  has  its  name  from  the  pope,  Sixtus  IV.,  who 
built  it  about  1473. 

Michael  Angelo's  original  profession  was  that  of  sculptor, 
and  as  such  he  had  already  won  his  reputation  before  the 
ceiling  pictures  were  begun  (in  1508).  His  "David"  in 
Florence  had  just  been  completed;  his  ''Bacchus"  and 
''Pieta"  are  also  earlier  works.  In  this  profession  he  was 
already  remarkable  for  colossal  and  grandiose  conceptions, 
and  the  tomb  of  Julius  II.,  which  was  to  have  been  the 


152 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


central  feature  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  was  already  one  of 
his  commissions.  Even  in  the  later  and  diminishea  propor- 
tions of  this  tomb,  as  placed  in  another  Roman  church,  the 
statue  of  ' '  Moses ' '  is  still  the  most  imposing  piece  of 
modern  statuary,  while'  the  ' '  Captives ' '  of  the  Louvre, 
which  were  detached  from  the  tomb  after  the  changes  in  its 
plans,  made  after  the  death  of  the  pope,  are  counterparts 
in  importance  of  his  Tombs  of  the  Medici,  subsequently 
done  in  Florence. 

In  these  various  works  of  sculpture  an  imperious  and 
daring  genius  of  conception  is  supported  by  profound 


Fig.  87.— Detail  from  the  Series  representing  the  Forefathers  of  Christ. 
Sistine  Chapel  Ceiling. 

knowledge  of  the  anatomy  of  the  human  figure,  and  by  a 
wonderful  technical  ability  in  the  use  of  the  chisel.  But  in 
sculpture  Michael  Angelo  expressed  his  own  great  person- 


Michael  Angelo  Buonarroti, 


153 


ality.  In  the  ceiling  frescoes  of  the  Sistine  Chapel,  this 
personality  became  the  servant  of  Christian  art  in  such  a 
way  that  the  greatness  of  the  man  united  with  the  greatness 
of  his  time  and  of  his  subject  to  produce  a  most  wonderful 
work  of  Bible  illustration. 

To  tell  the  story  of  the  Creation  in  pictures  worthily  and 
grandly,  is  a  task  which  no  other  artist  of  any  period  has 
accomplished.  Even  the  mere  physical  execution  of  a 
work  of  such  vast  extent  was  a  miracle  of  personal  forti- 
tude and  endurance.  To  calculate,  while  lying  on  his  back 
on  a  scaffold  close  to  the  ceiling,  the  proper  proportions  of 
detail  treatment  for  effect  on  the  distant  floor  below,  was 
one  of  the  least  of  his  tasks. 

Among  these  subjects  of  the  ceiling  the  Creation  of  the 
Sun  and  Moon,"  the  ''Creation  of  Adam,"  the  ''Cr-eation 
of  Eve,"  the  ''Temptation  and  Expulsion  from  the  Gar- 
den of  Eden,"  are  the  most  remarkable. 

In  the  angular  recesses  of  the  vaulting  and  in  the  arched 
spaces  above  the  windows  were  represented  the  ' '  Fore- 
fathers of  Christ."  The  ruling  thought  of  these  composi- 
tions is  to  illustrate  the  expectant  transition  stage  of  history 
waiting  for  the  new  dispensation  of  Christ. 

Between  the  triangular  recesses  of  the  ceiling  are  ar- 
ranged the  "Prophets"  and  "Sibyls,"  representing 
Hebrew  and  pagan  inspiration  according  to  an  Italian 
artistic  method  which  conceived  of  inspired  thought  as 
common  to  the  classic  and  the  Jewish  literature. 

The  panels  of  the  main  ceiling,  devoted  to  the  ' '  Story  of 
Genesis,"  are  alternately  wide  and  narrow.  At  the  angles 
thus  formed  between  the  panels  are  placed  the  nude  male 
figures  commonly  called  personifications  of  architectural 
force.  There  can  be  no  question  but  that  these  various 
frescoes,  when  viewed  in  their  combination  and  vast  ex- 


Fig.  88— The  Sistine  Chapel.    Vatican  Palace. 


Michael  Angela  Buonarroti. 


155 


tent,  are  the  most  daring  and  successful  effort  of  archi- 
tectural decoration  ever  undertaken  by  man. 

Twenty-two  years  after  the  completion  of  the  ceiling 
frescoes  (finished  151 2)  the  Last  Judgment "  on  the  rear 
wall  of  the  chapel  was  begun.  Its  enormous  dimensions, 
sixty  feet  in  height,  and  bold  designs  will  always  extort 
the  admiration  of  the  beholder.  At  the  same  time  we  must 
confess  to  a  certain  coldness  of  appreciation  for  this  work 
by  contrast  with  our  feeling  for  the  ' '  Story  of  Genesis. ' '  As 
far  as  this  lies  in  the  failure  of  the  picture  to  correspond  to 
the  imaginative  demand  made  upon  it,  we  must  remember 
that  such  a  failure  must  be  involved  in  any  picture  of  the 
subject,  and  this  would  have  been  conceded  instantly  by  the 
artist  and  by  his  time. 

We  will  begin  our  estimate  of  the  Last  Judgment"  by 
acknowledging  that  this  subject,  which  we  could  not 
imagine  a  nineteenth  century  painter  as  even  attempting, 
had  its  proper  place  in  art  when  the  mission  of  art  was  to 
illustrate  Bible  literature  and  to  represent  Christian  belief. 
Therefore,  instead  of  approaching  the  ^ '  Last  Judgment '  ^ 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  nineteenth  century,  which  is  really 
that  of  imaginative  literature,  we  must  approach  it  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  sixteenth  century,  which  is  that  of  im- 
aginative painting.  But  when  the  picture  is  viewed  from 
the  standpoint  of  its  own  period,  as  one  more  treatment  of 
a  traditional  religious  subject  which  was  inside  the  limits 
of  art  because  the  whole  Middle  Age,  and  the  early  Renais- 
sance as  well,  had  represented  its  religious  ideals,  beliefs, 
and  teachings  by  means  of  art,  we  must  still  admit  some 
shortcomings  in  the  ' '  Last  Judgment '  ^  as  compared  with 
other  religious  art  of  the  time,  for  instance,  as  compared 
with  other  works  by  the  same  man  in  the  same  place. 

If  we  should  attempt  in  one  sentence  to  fix  this  short- 


156 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


coming,  it  would  be  by  saying  that  the  studies  of  the 
anatomist  and  the  zeal  of  the  student  in  fore-shortened 
figures  have  been  carried  to  a  point  where  we  lose  sight 
of  the  subject  in  admiring  the  science  of  the  painter. 
It  was  the  greatest  virtue  of  the  great  time  that  its  technical 
science  in  details  did  not  overpower  its  idea,  and  that  the 
whole  was  always  greater  than  its  parts,  even  when  taken 


Fig.  89.— Detail  from  the    Last  Judgment"  by  Michael  Angelo. 
Angels  with  the  Pillar  of  Christ's  Scourging. 


together.  In  the  ''Last  Judgment"  the  parts  taken 
separately  or  together  are  perhaps  more  admirable  than 
the  whole. 

This  much  having  been  said  in  qualification,  as  against 
an  unconditionally  enthusiastic  attitude  toward  this  great 
picture,  we  are  forced  to  admit  that  it  is  the  largest  and 


Michael  Angela  Buonarroti, 


157 


in  many  senses  the  most  imposing,  as  it  is  the  latest,  of 
the  monumental  works  of  Italian  art  (the  decorations  of  the 
Doge's  Palace  at  Venice  alone  excepted).  As  an  astound- 
ing exhibition  of  power  and  science  in  drawing  it  is  un- 
doubtedly, when  dimensions  and  number  of  figures  are 
considered,  the  superior  of  any  other  single  work  in  the 
whole  world  and  in  that  sense  the  worthy  climax  in  paint- 
ing of  the  sculptor  of  the  ' '  Moses, ' '  and  the  architect  of 
St.  Peter's  dome. 

It  was  the  mission  of  Michael  Angelo  to  astound  hu- 
manity by  a  character 
in  which  profound  sci- 
entific and  technical 
knowledge  were  com- 
bined with  capacity  for 
enthusiasm  and  with 
exalted  imaginative 
power.  It  has  thus 
been  his  strange  fate  to 
have  been  admired  by 
two  distinct  classes  of 
experts — those  who 
lay  stress  on  purely 
technical  science  of  ex- 
ecution in  design  with- 
out reference  to  the 
thought  it  may  have 
to  convey,  and  those 
who  are  captivated  by 
grandeur  of  thought  without  reference  to  the  science  of  ex- 
ecution. As  the  besetting  sin  of  Italian  art  in  its  later 
decadence  was  to  lay  undue  stress  on  technique,  without 
reference  to  thought  and  conception,  it  was  possible  for 


Fig.  90.— Decorative  Figure  from  the  Sistine 
Chapel  Ceiling. 


158 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


Michael  Angelo  to  satisfy  the  taste  of  that  period  and  even 
to  serve  as  the  model  of  many  of  its  imitative  efforts.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  most  authoritative  critics  of  our  own 
time  class  him  as  a  man  of  mind  with  Shakespeare  and 
with  the  most  exalted  geniuses  of  all  history  in  music  and 
in  literature. 

Considered  as  a  painter  pure  and  simple,  Michael  An- 
gelo' s  forte  was  the  study  of  the  human  figure,  both  in  its 
anatomic  form  and  in  its  action  as  represented  by  the  art  of 
foreshortening.  As  a  colorist  he  does  not  take  high  rank, 
but  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  quality  of  his  art  would  have 
been  improved  by  a  different  scheme  of  color.  Where 
design  considered  as  drawing  is  the  force  of  the  artist,  color 
must  of  necessity  be  subordinated  to  this  force.  For  de- 
sign emphasizes  the  outline,  while  color  emphasizes  the 
surface  and  the  mass.  It  must  further  be  said  that  there  is 
no  other  artist  whose  work  so  absolutely  requires  a  knowl- 
edge  of  the  personality  and  life  as  connected  with  the 
history  and  political  revolutions  of  his  time.  Grimm's 
''Life  of  Michael  Angelo"  treats  of  these  matters  in  a 
most  satisfactory  way.  Vasari  was  personally  acquainted 
with  Michael  Angelo,  and  the  life  written  by  him  is  one  of 
his  best,  being  full  of  interesting  anecdotes  and  personal 
details. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


CORREGGIO  AND  TITIAN. 


During  the  same  time  when  Raphael  was  enchanting 
the  world  with  his  dignified  balance  of  beautifully  varied 
figures  and  while  Michael  Angelo  was  astounding  it  with 
his  prodigious  illustrations  of  the  old  Hebrew  literature, 
another  great  painter  was  demonstrating  that  every  kind  of 
talent  was  contained  in 
this  one  epoch  by  a 
class  of  pictures  which 
charm  and  delight  us 
without  appealing 
either  to  the  intellect 
or  to  the  standpoint  of 
architectural  effect. 

Antonio  Allegri, 
known  as  Correggio 
(Corejyo),  from  his 
birthplace  near  Parma, 
was  this  painter.  Cor- 
reggio was,  after  Da 
Vinci,  the  first  great 
master  in  lights  and 
shadows.  His  subjects 
are  as  often  mytho- 
logical as  religious,  and 
in  both  cases  attractive  by  grace  and  beauty  rather  than 
by  power  of  thought.     He  was  an  artist  of  the  senses 

159 


Fig. 


91. — Detail  from  Correggio's  "Virgin 
\doring  the  Infant  Savior."  Uffizi 
Gallery,  Florence. 


Fig.  92.— Christ  Appears  to  Mary  Magdalen  after  the  Resurrection. 
Correggio.  Madrid. 


Correggio  and  Titian, 


i6i 


rather  than  of  the  intellect,  an  oil  painter  rather  than  a 
monumental  decorator,  rarely  dignified  but  never  common- 
place. 

In  Correggio' s  art  the  momentary  effect  in  face  and 
gesture  was  the  thing  sought  for,  but  this  effort  never 
descended  to  affectation  and  never  sinned  by  self-conscious- 
ness. The  greatest  charm  of  Correggio' s  painting  is  its 
artless  and  innocent  delight  in  sensuous  beauty  which 
never  sinks  to  sensuality. 

My  illustrations  for  this  artist  will  probably  place  him 
in  his  relations  and  contrasts  to  the  great  Florentines 
more  successfully  than  words.  His  tendencies  as  pursued 
by  a  later  generation  with  less  simplicity  had  marked 
influence  on  the  seventeenth  century  and  all  later  art.  His 
important  pictures,  as  being  oil  paintings  on  canvas,  have 
been  widely  scattered  through  the  galleries  of  Europe, 
all  of  which  can  boast  one  or  more  of  his  masterpieces. 
His  ''Holy  Night"  in  Dresden,  is  the  most  generally 
known.  The  "  Magdalen"  in  Dresden,  so  long  attributed 
to  him,  is  now  known  to  be  by  Van  der  Werff,  an  artist  of 
the  seventeenth  century  school  of  Holland. 

In  face  of  his  picture  in  Madrid  of  the  meeting  of  Christ 
and  Mary  Magdalen  after  the  Resurrection,  we  cannot  deny 
that  Correggio  had  his  serious  moments  and  great  thoughts. 
This  is  probably  his  greatest,  certainly  his  most  serious, 
work.  The  wonderful  mellowness  of  coloring  and  dark 
richness  of  the  shadows  are  seen  even  in  the  photograph. 

In  the  execution  of  minor  details  Correggio  showed  the 
same  broad  style  of  execution  otherwise  familiar  to  his  time 
but  he  went  much  farther  in  the  realistic  introduction  and 
treatment  of  clouds,  landscape  accessories,  and  other  subor- 
dinate features  of  his  pictures.  It  would  be  more  correct 
and  more  exact  to  say  that  he  habitually  represented 


l62 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


these  things  in  larger  dimensions  as  compared  with  his 
figure  scheme,  than  did  other  contemporary  painters. 
Altogether  his  art  is  more  mobile,  more  expressive  in  the 
exterior  sense,  more  vibratory  in  its  relations  of  light 


Fig.  93. — Hall  of  the  Grand  Council,  Doge's  Palace. 


and  shade,  more  nervous  in  its  activity,  in  a  word,  more 
modern  than  that  of  any  of  his  contemporaries.  He  is  a 
marvelous  anticipator  of  the  effects  which  were  sought  by 
all  artists  a  century  later,  but  which  were  then  sought  with- 
out the  same  unaffected  and  ingenuous  style. 

We  have  still  left  for  mention  the  School  of  the  Venetians, 
which  outlived  all  other  great  art  in  Italy  and  continued 
in  bloom  down  to  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The 
relations  of  this  survival  to  general  Italian  history  have 


Correggio  and  Titian, 


163 


been  pointed  out  (p.  36).  As  contrasted  with  the  light 
and  shadow  treatment  of  Correggio,  the  figure  design  of 
Michael  Angelo,  or  the  decorative  composition  of  Raphael, 
the  great  excellence  of  Venetian  painting  was  its  harmony 
and  warmth  of  color. 

Why  the  Venetians  should  have  been  so  pre-eminent  in 
color  is  not  immediately  clear.  We  may  suggest  that  their 
commerce  with  the  East  and  traffic  in  Oriental  rugs  and 
fabrics  may  have  had 
much  to  do  with  it. 
Certainly  we  can  find 
analogies  between  the 
warm  tones  of  their 
pictures  and  their  pros- 
perous, luxurious  lives 
and  pleasure-loving 
tastes. 

Oil  colors  and  can- 
vas surface  were  their 
preference  for  interiors 
as  against  fresco  paint- 
ing on  plaster.  Their 
wall-paintings  were 
canvases  fastened  to 
the  walls  after  the  work 

was    done.       There   is    P'JG-  94.-Detail  from  Titian's  Portrait  ol  "  La 

Bella."    Pitti  Palace,  Florence. 

not  therefore  in  Ve- 
netian art  any  question  of  the  outline  effects  and  archi- 
tectural balance  of  Raphael  and  other  Florentines  or  of  the 
anatomic  enthusiasms  of  Michael  Angelo.  On  the  other 
hand  the  contrasts  and  harmonies  of  flesh  color  and  dra- 
peries, the  rich  mellowness  of  backgrounds  and  skies  are 
absolutely  unrivaled  either  in  contemporary  or  later  times. 


Fig.  95— Detail  from  Titian's  "Assumption  of  the  Virgin."   Venice  Academy. 


Correggio  and  Titian, 


165 


To  such  an  art  strong  emotion  or  rapid  action  was  gener- 
ally foreign.  Half-figure  pieces  were  much  affected  and 
here  make  their  appearance  for  the  first  time  in  Italian 
art.  (In  the  seventeenth  century  they  became  general.) 
A  noble  and  dignified  repose  is  a  constant  feature  of  these 
paintings.  Nowhere  is  the  great  refinement  of  Italian  cul- 
ture more  apparent  than  in  these  faces  and  attitudes.  The 
poise  and  self-contained  character  of  the  portraits  have  been 


Fig.  96.— St.  Bridget  offering  Flowers  to  the  Infant  Savior.    Titian.  Madrid. 

rarely  if  ever  equaled  in  later  times,  and  when  they  are 
taken  in  bulk  have  never  been  subsequently  rivaled. 
What  we  admire  later  in  Velasquez  or  in  Van  Dyck  was  the 
everyday  art  of  a  sixteenth  century  Venetian  portrait. 

The  development  of  Venetian  art  was  tardy.  Not  till 
the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century  does  it  figure,  unless  in 
the  studies  of  the  specialist.    We  have  devoted  a  word 


1 66  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


to  Carpaccio  and  the  Bellinis  for  this  time  (p.  124). 

At  the  opening  of  the  sixteenth  century  we  are  then  con- 
fronted by  a  genius  in  Giorgione  (Jorjony),  in  whom 
all  the  best  qualities  of  Venetian  art  found  their  highest 


Fig.  97. — Dcta.il  from  Titian's    Presentation  of  the  Virgin."    Venice  Academy. 

pitch  of  perfection.  To  this  perfection  is  added  a  touch  of 
aristocratic  reticence  and  refinement  which  even  in  Venetian 
art  has  scarcely  had  its  parallel.  The  paintings  of  this 
artist  who  died  at  the  age  cf  thirty-four  (151 1),  are  of 
extreme  rarity.  The  greatest  painter  of  Venetian  art  be- 
side and  after  him  was  his  pupil. 

To  Titian  (Tishyan)  this  place  is  awarded  not  because 
Palma  Vecchio,  or  Paris  Bordone,  Tintoretto,  or  Paul 
Veronese,   has  not  rivaled   him   in   many  pictures,  but 


Fig.  98.— Portrait  by  Palma  Vecchio,  Vienna. 


1 68  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


because  his  constant  evenness  of  perfection  through  a 
long  hfe  of  enormous  industry  and  productivity  has  left 
him  without  a  rival  when  his  works  are  summed  together. 
The  Dresden  Gallery  will  take  the  palm  for  Titians  in 
northern  Europe.  In  Italy,  outside  of  Venice,  his  finest 
paintings  are  in  Florence  and  in  the  Borghese  Gallery 
at  Rome.  His  greatest  picture  is  the  Assumption  of  the 
Virgin,"  in  the  Venice  Academy.  "Christ  and  the  Trib- 
ute Money,"  in  Dresden,  is  his  greatest  work  in  northern 
Europe. 

The  nearest  rivals  of  Titian  were  Palma  Vecchio  and 
Paris  Bordone.  The  quality  of  their  art  is  closely  analogous 
to  his.  In  amount  of  production  or  in  thoughtful  concep- 
tions of  subject  matter  they  cannot  be  said  to  have  been  his 


Fig,  99, — Detail  from  the  "Feast  in  the  House  of  Levi."   By  Paul  Veronese. 
Venice  Academy. 


Correggio  and  Titian. 


169 


equals.  For  pure  Venetian  coloring  they  cannot  be  called 
inferiors. 

On  the  other  hand  Tintoretto  and  Paul  Veronese  repre- 
sent a  later  generation  of  Venetian  art,  in  which  the  solidity 
and  body  of  the  design  were  tending  to  become  weaker. 
Only  in  individual  examples  does  Tintoretto  rise  to  the 
heights  of  his  predecessors. 

Paul  Veronese,  who  closes  in  point  of  time  the  list  of 
great  Venetians,  was  in  brush  work  and  in  color  one  of  the 
greatest,  but  it  would  be  difficult  to  quote  works  from  his 
hand  of  ideal  and  intellectual  quality  such  as  were  produced 
by  Giorgione,  Titian,  and  contemporaries.  The  colossal 
canvases  on  which  he  depicted  the  ' '  Feast  in  the  House  of 
Levi,"  the  ''Marriage  of  Cana,"  etc.,  are  purely  pictures 
of  Venetian  life  disguised  by  their  titles  as  scripture  sub- 
jects, and  we  are  bound  to  confess  that  what  had  once 
been  the  means  to  an  end  had  now  become  the  end  itself 

It  is  best,  however,  not  to  be  looking  either  backward 
or  forward  when  we  wish  to  be  just  to  a  work  of  art 
and  give  it  full  value  for  its  own  sake.  He  who  wishes 
to  do  full  justice  to  Veronese  needs  only  to  ask  himself 
the  question,  ''How  can  I  best  know  the  daily  life  of 
the  most  opulent  and  cultivated  city  of  Europe  in  the 
days  of  Shakespeare  and  Elizabeth?" 

We  cannot  close  our  brief  account  of  the  greatest  Italian 
painters  without  noting  the  multitude  of  artists  of  the  first 
rank  flourishing  in  the  same  period,  whose  names  have  not 
been  mentioned.  A  mere  catalogue  of  their  names  would 
scarcely  be  worth  making,  and  space  would  not  allow  more. 
None  the  less  their  existence,  at  least,  must  be  specified 
and  insisted  on.  It  is  this  multitude  of  superior  artists 
which  made  possible  the  supreme  perfection  of  the  work  of 
certain  individuals  of  rarest  genius  among  their  number. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  RENAISSANCE  PAINTING. 


To  FIND  the  Renaissance  art  of  the  seventeenth  century 
at  its  best  we  must  turn  first  to  Spain  or  the  Netherlands, 
where  the  works  of  Velasquez  and  Murillo,  Rubens,  Van 

Dyck  and  Rembrandt 
continued  in  original 
ways  and  with  some 
distinct  national  qual- 
ities the  traditions  of 
their  Italian  predeces- 
sors. For  the  general 
spread  of  Italian  cul- 
ture over  northern 
Europe,  which  carried 
the  Italian  arts  of  de- 
sign in  its  train,  see  my 
matter  on  the  general 
history  and  architec- 
ture of  the  Renaissance. 

The  art  of  painting 
now  becomes  an  art 
like  other  arts,  no 
longer  destined  to  bear 
on  its  shoulders  the 
whole  spiritual  thought  and  mission  of  an  epoch  or  to  raise 
to  the  highest  pitch  the  monumental  effect  of  magnificent 
buildings;  but  in  a  more  limited  sphere,  as  the  art  still 


Fig,  100. — Portrait  of  Henrietta  of  France,  Queen 
of  Charles  I.  of  England.   Van  Dyck, 
Pitti  Palace,  Florence. 


Seventeenth  Century  Renaissance  Painting.       17  x 


exists  for  ourselves,  a  noble  continuation  and  development 
of  the  lessons  of  the  earlier  great  masters. 

The  changed  position  of  the  art  of  painting  is  to  be 
ascribed  ultimately  to  the  introduction  of  printed  books, 
to  the  new  methods  of  education  and  expression  which  were 
consequently  less  dependent  on  the  language  of  forms,  and 
to  an  enlargement  of  national  boundaries  in  which  the 
direct  relation  of  the  artist  to  an  entire  civic  community 
as  the  banner-bearer  of  its  pride  and  ambitions  was  neces- 
sarily abandoned. 

Perhaps  we  may  add  that  as  the  study  of  nature  and  the 
science  of  form  had  been  the  great  triumph  of  Italy  over 


Fig.  ioi— The  Dead  Savior  in  the  Lap  of  the  Virgin.   Van  Dyck.  Antwerp. 


the  Middle  Age,  it  was  natural  that  this  triumph  should 
have  been  announced  and  celebrated  most  enthusiastically 
when  it  was  first  won. 

The  use  of  books  affected  Catholic  as  well  as  Protest- 
ant countries,  but  in  the  former,  religious  pictorial  subjects 
were  traditional  and  were  not  abandoned,  whereas  in  the 


T72 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


latter  they  were  for  the  time  being  formally  offensive  to  the 
religious  standpoint  of  the  day.  These  religious  subjects,  as 
found  in  Catholic  countries,  were  continued,  however,  on  a 
much  diminished  scale  of  magnitude  and  number.  The 
wall  decoration  of  churches  was  practically  abandoned.  Not 


Fig.  102. — "Jacob's  Ladder."    Ribera.  Madrid. 


much,  at  least,  worth  quoting  was  done  in  this  line.  Nor 
could  the  Catholic  artists  avoid  reflecting  the  tendency  of 
their  time  in  which  the  representation  of  visible  nature  for 
its  own  sake  had  begun  to  be  the  main  thing.  A  closer 
illusion  as  regards  momentary  reality,  the  imitation  of 
fabrics  or  of  trappings,  was  now  generally  in  vogue  in  re- 
ligious art.  In  expression  the  sentimental  rather  than  the 
dignified  was  commonly  sought. 

If  therefore  we  wish  to  place  the  time  as  a  whole,  we  must 


Seventeenth  Century  Renaissance  Painting, 


173 


remember  that  Shakespeare  was  still  writing  his  later  plays 
(died  1 6 16),  that  Cervantes  and  Calderon  produced  in 
it  the  great  masterpieces  of  Spanish  literature,  that  Cor- 


FiG.  103,— Portrait  of  the  Dwarf  El  Primo.   Velasquez.  Madrid. 

neille  and  Moliere,  during  its  lapse,  raised  the  French 
drama  to  its  pinnacle  of  glory.  The  age  of  Cromwell  and 
of  Richelieu  did  not  lack  great  men  or  great  artists,  but  the 


174  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


mission  of  the  latter  was  not  exactly  what  it  had  been. 
What  they  accomplished  in  the  way  of  painting  considered 
as  an  art  for  its  own  sake  is  best  attested  by  the  fact  that 
the  painters  of  that  day  are  still  the  models  and  teachers  of 
our  own. 

Among  the  names  so  far  mentioned  Velasquez  stands 

among  the  foremost  as 
the  great  student  of 
men  and  of  character,  as 
shown  by  the  medium 
of  art.  In  his  masterly 
subordination  of  de- 
tails to  essential  facts 
and  his  large  power  of 
vision  which  carries 
the  man  to  the  canvas 
and  fixes  him  there  for 
all  posterity,  he  can  in 
general  only  find  equals 
or  rivals  in  Rembrandt 
and  among  the  older 
Venetians  or  the  very 
greatest  names  of  the 
early  Renaissance. 

Fig.  104— "  The  Divine  Shepherd."  Such  art    showS  US 

Murillo.    Madrid.  .  . 

agam  and  agam  that 
the  pencil  and  brush  are  only  means  to  an  end,  that  tech- 
nical facility  in  their  use  is  admirable  only  when  mind  con- 
trols the  hand. 

It  was  the  fortune  or  tact  of  Velasquez  as  a  great  realist, 
to  steer  clear  of  the  religious  subjects  of  his  time.  As 
we  find  these  latter  treated  by  Murillo  we  can  only  say  that 
he  rose  to  the  highest  level  of  his  period  and  that  this  was 


Seventeenth  Century  Renaissance  Painting.  175 


not  that  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Our  point  of  view  for  his 
"  Divine  Shepherd,"  for  example,  does  not  so  much  relate 
to  the  picture  itself  as  to  the  fact  that  his  period  mainly 
never  was  more  serious  than  it  is  here.  Taking  this  picture 
as  a  picture,  we  find  it  charming;  taking  it  as  a  conception 
of  the  Christ  subject,  we  find  it  admissible  or  tolerable; 
taking  it  as  an  example  of  the  tone  of  the  period,  we  are 
reminded  that  this  century  did  not  succeed  equally  well  in 
more  intellectual  or  more  serious  conceptions. 

The  beauty  of  Murillo's  pictures,  their  warmth,  and 
tender  devotional  spirit  wall  always  find  admirers.  The 
most  inexperienced  eye  takes  pleasure  in  a  Murillo.  No 
higher  praise  could  be  paid  this  artist.  We  must  also 
give  high  rank  to  the  somber  power  of  Ribera,  or  Spa- 
gnoletto,  as  he  was  also  called.  His  "Jacob's  Ladder" 
is  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  semi-romantic  spirit  of  the 
time  and  of  the  class  and  style  of  scripture  subject  in  which 
this  spirit  was  most  successful.  We  could  not  wish  that 
this  picture  had  another  name,  and  yet  it  is  doubtful  if 
it  does  not  more  successfully  transfer  us  to  the  world  of 
dreams  at  large  than  to  the  world  and  days  of  Genesis. 

Beside  these  Spaniards,  the  Flemings,  Rubens  and  Van 
Dyck,  take  in  their  own  way  an  equal  rank.  In  portraits, 
landscapes,  mythologic  and  religious  subjects,  Rubens  was  a 
prolific  and  vigorous  producer.  Italian  influences  had  been 
long  ascendant  on  the  art  of  Flanders,  but  Rubens  was  the 
first  who  knew  how  to  graft  the  color  and  science  of  the 
foreign  art  on  a  Flemish  stock  without  sacrificing  his 
own  native  spontaneity  and  Flemish  character.  The  * '  De- 
scent from  the  Cross,"  in  the  Antwerp  Cathedral,  was 
his  greatest  picture. 

His  pupil.  Van  Dyck,  shows  still  more  distinctly  the  reflex 
of  his  Italian  models.    Like  Rubens,  the  friend  of  courts 


176 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


and  kings,  his  peculiar  forte  was  to  portray  the  aristocratic 
and  royal  people  of  his  day.  In  religious  art  he  had  not 
the  strength  or  earnestness  of  Rubens  and  only  in  special 
cases,  as  in  our  illustration  from  Antwerp,  did  he  rise  to  the 
level  of  his  master's  religious  pictures.    As  a  colorist,  how- 


FiG.  105.— Detail  from  a  Holy  Family.    By  Rubens.    Pitti  Palace. 


ever,  he  may  be  considered  the  superior  of  Rubens  in  re- 
finement and  in  harmony. 

In  the  Italian  painting  of  this  age  the  painters  of  Naples 
and  Bologna  took  the  lead,  displacing  the  civic  centers 
of  earlier  times.  The  former  carried  to  the  highest  pitch  a 
bold  realism  which  has  caused  them  to  be  named  the  School 
of  the  Naturalists,  while  the  Bolognese  are  also  known  as 
the  "Eclectics,"  that  is,  universalists  or  imitators.    As  this 


Seventeenth  Century  Renaissance  Painting,  177 


designation  would  imply,  their  art  was  academic  and  ' '  cor- 
rect, ' '  but  lacking  in  spontaneity  and  in  originality. 

In  the  typical  religious  subjects  of  these  Italians  we 
find  the  tide  of  taste  turning  toward  those  which  favor 
the  ecstatic  or  the  sentimental.  The  isolated  Magdalens, 
the  Immaculate  Conceptions,  Ecce  Homos  (heads  of  the 
Savior  crowned  with  thorns),  half-figures  or  heads  of 
saints  and  Madonnas  are  of  this  period.  The  same  holds 
of  the  isolated  crucifixion  scenes. 

According  to  the  ordinary  presumptions  of  people  who 
have  not  studied  the 
topic,  such  pictures 
were  typical  for  all  old 
religious  art,  but  the 
contrary  is  the  case. 
In  the  early  sixteenth 
century  the  actual 
crucifixion  was  rarely 
rendered.  The  ' '  Dep- 
osition from  the  Cross'' 
replaced  it.  At  that 
time  the  Head  of 
Christ  is  unknown, 
likewise  the  Head  of 
the  Madonna.  The 
''Immaculate  Concep- 
tion ' '  type  is  also  un- 
known to  the  great 
period  of  Italian  art,  so 
are  the  Magdalens  as  a  half-figure  type.  One  by  Titian  is  a 
solitary  exception.  His  "Assumption  of  the  Madonna"  is 
the  only  important  case  of  its  time. 

In  sixteenth  century  instances  where  the  ecstatic  ex- 


FiG.  106. — Madonna,  by  Guido  Reni. 
Uffizi  Gallery,  Florence. 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


pression  is  attempted,  as  in  Raphael' s  ' '  Transfiguration '  * 
(Fig.  84),  and  Titian's  ^'Assumption"  (Fig.  95),  the 
great  dignity  and  reserve  are  to  be  noted  and  compared 

with  seventeenth  cen- 
tury types.  In  the 
same  sense  the  reserve 
and  dignity  of  the 
^'Sistine  Madonna" 
by  Raphael  may  be 
compared  with  the 
Immaculate  Concep- 
tions. All  these  facts 
point  to  the  larger, 
more  general  one,  that 
good  taste  and  com- 
mon sense  have  not 
been  confined  to  the 
nineteenth  century, 
and  that  as  far  as  re- 
ligious painting  is  con- 
cerned they  have  never 
been  so  prominent 
since  as  they  were  in 
the  sixteenth  century  Italian  art.  Good  taste  avoids  the 
painfully  tragic;  common  sense  avoids  the  ecstatic  and  the 
sentimental,  or  handles  it  with  great  reserve. 

The  landscapes,  mythologic  scenes,  and  genre"  pic- 
tures (realistic  subjects)  are  the  most  successful  of  this 
time.  In  these  the  period  announced  its  own  tastes  and 
preferences  most  clearly,  while  the  traditional  religious 
pictures  were  largely  a  cloak  and  disguise  for  a  realistic  art 
lacking  real  sympathy  with  the  heart  of  the  subject  and 
consequently  treating  it  without  earnestness. 


Fig,  107. — The  Annunciation.  Sassoferrato. 
Louvre. 


Seventeenth  Century  Renaissance  Painting.  179 


In  landscapes  and  classical  subjects  the  Frenchmen, 
Claude  Lorrain  and  Nicholas  Poussin,  respectively  took 
first  rank,  both  residents  and  students  in  Italy. 

Among  the  Bolognese,  headed  by  the  three  artists  of  the 
Caracci  family,  we  specify  as  specially  important  names 
those  of  Guido  Reni,  Domenichino,  and  Guercino.  Among 
the  ' '  Naturalists' '  we  mention  Salvator  Rosa  and  Caravaggio 
(to  whom  the  Spaniard  Ribera,  long  resident  in  Naples,  is 
also  generally  reckoned) .  The  leading  picture  of  its  century 
is  Guido' s  fresco  of  the  ''Dawn"  or  ''Aurora,"  on  the 
ceiling  of  the  Rospigl- 
iosi  Villa  at  Rome. 
The  greatest  work  of 
Domenichino  is  the 
"Diana  and  Nymphs" 
of  the  Borghese  Gal- 
lery. 

Guido  Reni  on  the 
whole  deserves  first 
place  among  the  Ital- 
ians of  this  age.  He 
was  an  industrious  and 
able  manufacturer  of  all 
the  classes  of  pictures 
which  I  have  specified 
as  types.  His  Mag- 
dalens,  Ecce  Homos, 
Crucifixions,  and  Im- 
maculate Conceptions 
are  very  numerous.  In  the  Crucifixion  type  he  had  an 
active  follower  in  Van  Dyck.  In  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ceptions Murillo  carried  off  the  palm. 

The   names   of  the   Italians   Sassoferrato   and  Carlo 


Fig.  108,— Saint  Cecilia.    By  Sassoferrato. 
Venice  Academy. 


i8o  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


Dolci  represent  a  weaker  art,  which  unhappily  offers  ex- 
cellent subjects  for  photographs  and  engravings,  tending  by 
their  clearness  and  distinctness  in  copy  to  give  an  unduly 
important  place  to  the  originals. 

In  treating  of  the  seventeenth  century  we  must  always 
keep  two  points  in  view;  first,  to  be  just  to  its  own 

great  excellence  and 
achievements;  second, 
not  to  be  unjust  to  its 
great  predecessor,  and 
to  preserve  a  proper 
perspective  in  our  no- 
tions of  the  two. 

The  difficulty  in  pre- 
serving this  perspective 
lies  partly  in  the  fact 
that  the  galleries  of 
northern  Europe  neces- 
sarily exhibit  a  larger 
number  of  the  later  pic- 
tures, which  are  seen 
by  many  to  whom  the 
monumental  works  of 

Fig.  109.— Detail  from  Diana's  Chase.   Domeni-  Italy  are  not  SO  familiar, 
chino.    Borghese  Gallery.    Rome.  ^j^^  ^^^^^^  r^^xo^ 

ductions  of  these  seventeenth  century  works  are  also  more 
in  demand  because  they  are  better  known,  and  because 
being  smaller  in  original  they  make  relatively  larger  and 
more  decorative  copies. 

It  is  the  universal  experience  of  students  that  as  be- 
ginners they  are  first  drawn  to  the  art  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  In  external  and  momentary  attractiveness  it 
undoubtedly   holds  its  own.    This   should   scarcely  be 


Seventeenth  Century  Renaissance  Painting.  i8i 


reckoned  against  it;  but  still  waters  run  deep"  and  the 
waters  of  the  seventeenth  century  are  rarely  still,  at  least  in 
the  religious  art  of  Italy.  For  genuine  and  spontaneous 
feeling  in  this  century  we  shall  fare  best  with  the  French, 
the  Spaniards,  the  Flemings,  and  the  Dutch.  The  English 
had  as  yet  no  painters  of  their  own  worth  naming.  (Sir 
Peter  Lely  and  Godfrey  Kneller  were  Germans. ) 


Fio.  no.— Portrait  of  Lucas  Baumgartner.  Albert  Diirer.  Munich. 


CHAPTER  XXL 


SIXTEENTH    CENTURY  GERMAN  AND    FLEMISH  PAINTING. 

Our  most  natural  first  attitude  toward  early  northern 
art  is  to  use  it  as  a  foil  for  the  contemporary  Italian. 
We  can  appreciate  Masaccio  and  Da  Vinci  at  their  best 
when  we  compare  them  with  Van  der  Weyden  or  Albert 
Diirer.  But  this  attitude  is  followed  by  another,  the  recog- 
nition of  old  German  sincerity,  honesty,  and  truth  as  at- 
tested by  old  German  pictures.  There  is  also  an  imagi- 
native quality  in  German  art  which  the  Italian  lacked, 
often  disguised  in  fantastic  and  grotesque  forms,  but  still 
thoughtful  and  profound. 

The  German  art  of  the  early  sixteenth  century  was  also 
Renaissance.  It  also  shared,  and  succeeded  in,  the  effort 
to  return  to  nature  and  to  revive  the  science  of  design. 
It  also  felt  the  influence  of  classic  thought  and  literature 
and  experienced  the  influence  of  Italy.  Albert  Diirer 
studied  in  Venice  and  the  Renaissance  traits  are  very  clear 
in  Holbein.  But  German  art  was  more  tardy  than  Italian, 
and  in  the  early  sixteenth  century  it  is  still  so  distinctly  and 
peculiarly  national  that  we  can  only  remotely  relate  it  to 
the  larger  movement. 

These  main  things  have  to  be  said  of  German  painting: 
First,  that  in  face  of  the  stained-glass  windows  of  the 
northern  Gothic  its  beginnings  were  much  crippled  by 
their  rivalry.  That  wall  surface  of  the  churches  which 
the  Italian  gave  up  to  painting,  the  northerner  gave  up 
to  stained  glass.    Hence  for  the  fifteenth  century,  German 

183 


184  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


and  Netherland  art  was  confined  to  panels  for  altar  pictures, 
mostly  of  extremely  small  size.  In  general  the  medieval 
and  Gothic  ignorance  of  form  was  still  the  rule  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  though  here  we  must  distinguish  in  favor 
of  the  Netherlands  as  against  Germany. 

In  the  early  sixteenth  century  when  the  two  great  names 
of  Albert  Diirer  and  Hans  Holbein  are  in  question  for 
South  Germany,  we  must  give  them  place  more  as  phe- 
nomenal geniuses  for  their  given  lime  and  surroundings, 

less  as  highest  rep- 
resentatives of  an 
otherwise  average  ex- 
cellence. Yet  it  is  pos- 
sible that  a  German 
critic  would  not  draw 
this  line. 

In  Diirer  there  was, 
aside  from  his  not 
always  successful  strug- 
gle to  throw  off*  the 
bondage  of  German 
medieval  tradition,  a 
peculiar  fantastic 
method  and  spirit  in- 
dividual to  himself,  and 
this  we  need  to  under- 
stand and  discount. 
He  was  at  his  best  in 
woodcuts  and  mainly 
active  in  this  branch  of  art.  His  comparatively  rare  oil 
paintings  are  distinguished  by  marvelous  painstaking 
minuteness,  strong  sense  of  character,  and  highly  trained 
facility  in  use  of  the  brush  and  pencil. 


Fig.  III. — Woodcut  by  Albert  Diirer. 


German  and  Flemish  Painting,  185 


Hans  Holbein  belonged  to  a  later  generation,  one  more 
familiar  as  a  whole  with  the  new  science  and  art  of  Italy, 
but  he  does  not  in  any 
sense  deny  his  birth- 
right. Obvious  Italian 
influence  is  confined  to 
the  architectural  details 
of  his  paintings  (for 
instance  the  niche  of 
the  famous  Meier  Ma- 
donna in  Dresden). 
He  was  much  more 
successful  than  Diirer 
in  obtaining  commis- 
sions for  oil  paintings, 
many  of  which  are  in 
Basle,  others  in  Hamp- 
ton Court  and  other 
English  collections, 
still  others  in  various 
galleries.  The  most 
famous  of  all  is  the 
large  Madonna  in  Dresden,  although  this  painting  is 
now  thought  to  be  a  copy  of  its  counterpart  in  Darm- 
stadt. 

Holbein  was  also  an  active  designer  of  woodcuts,  which 
just  then  were  very  popular  in  the  North  both  for  Bible 
subjects  and  other  illustrative  purposes.  He  also  figured 
as  a  successful  fresco  painter  both  in  London  and  in  Basle, 
but  all  his  wall-paintings  have  gone  to  ruin  or  have 
been  destroyed. 

A  very  slight  acquaintance  with  these  German  painters 
will  show  their  value  for  history.    The  quality  and  charag- 


FiG.  112, — ^The  Flagellation. 

Albert  Diirer. 


Woodcut  by 


•186 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


ter  of  the  people  come  to  us  through  their  art  with 
marvelous  suggestiveness. 

We  cannot  quote  for  the  Netherland  sixteenth  century, 

names  of  equal  dis- 
tinction with  the  great 
South  Germans. 
Quentin  Matsys  is  here 
the  leading  name — an 
artist  sharing  with 
many  of  his  country- 
men the  strange  and 
suggestive  trait  of 
showing  two  entirely 
distinct  styles,  an 
earlier  style  of  the  old 
Flemish  and  Germanic 
quality  and  a  later  one 
borrowed  wholesale 
from  Italian  models. 
The  Italian  influence 
was  not,  however,  suc- 
cessfully assimilated  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  and  we  have  seen  that  the  dis- 
tinction of  Rubens  lay  in  this  assimilation. 


Fig.  113. — Portrait  of  Hans  Holbein  by  him- 
self.  Uffizi  Gallery.  Florence. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  DUTCH  PAINTING, 

Passing  by  the  seventeenth  century  Flemings  already 
mentioned,  we  now  turn  to  the  Dutch  painters  of  the 
same  era. 

In  Holland,  art  at  any  earlier  date  is  mainly  conspicuous 
by  its  absence  or  when  rarely  found  is  a  repetition  of  that 
common  to  early  Flan- 
ders and  Germany; 
but  in  the  seventeenth 
century  this  country 
produced  the  most  re- 
markable school  of 
painting  then  known 
in  Europe. 

Not  only  does  Hol- 
land boast  in  the  per- 
son of  Rembrandt,  an 
artist  who  was  at  least 
equal  to  the  greatest 
of  his  time,  but  a  host 
of  other  lights,  among 
whom  Franz  Hals, 

Ruisdael,    Jan    Steen,    I^ig.  114 -Franz  van  Mieris.    Portrait  of  the 
.  Artist  and  his  Wife.   The  Hague. 

Brouwer,  Adrian  van 

Ostade,  Netscher,  Metsu,  Peter  Hoogh,  Franz  and  Willem 
van  Mieris,  Paul  Potter,  Cuyp,  Van  Goyen,  Terburg  are 
a  few  only  out  of  many  whose  names  may  not  be  always 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


so  familiar,  but  whose  works  in  the  Gallery  of  Amsterdam 
show  them  the  equals  or  rivals  of  these. 

The  phenomenal  development  of  Dutch  art  has  a  historic 
explanation  which  has  best  been  given  by  an  American 


Fig.  115.— Cattle.   Paul  Potter.  The  Hague. 

author.*  The  sum  of  this  explanation  is  that  Holland 
led  the  world  in  science,  industry,  and  commerce  for  the 
given  time  and  that  her  art  is  one  reflex  of  this  larger  fact. 

The  character  of  this  art  is  peculiarly  original,  in  fact 
absolutely  phenomenal,  when  precedent  and  tradition  are 
considered.  In  the  early  days  of  the  Protestants  there  was 
a  general  prejudice  against  church  paintings  and  religious 
art  decoration  which  we  no  longer  share  but  which  was 

♦Already  quoted.  Douglas  Campbell,  "The  Puritan  in  Holland,  England,  and 
America."  See  also  Taine,  "  Art  in  the  Netherlands." 


Seventeenth  Century  Dutch  Painting,  189 


long  ascendant.  Hence  Protestantism  led  to  the  abjuring 
of  religious  art  but  elsewhere  had  found  no  substitute  for  it. 
Painting  practically  disappeared  from  Germany  as  a  con- 
sequence of  this  religious  prejudice  after  the  death  of 
Holbein  and  Lucas  Cranach.  In  England  it  had  no  flower 
till  the  eighteenth  century. 

In  Holland  only  did  the  Protestant  artist  seek  in  the 
life  about  him  the  subject  matter  which  tradition  could 
no  longer  supply.    The  life  of  the  house  and  farm,  of 


Fig.  116.— The  Anatomy  Lesson.   Rembrandt.   The  Hague. 

kitchen  and  parlor,  of  the  village,  the  city,  and  the  town, 
of  the  sailor  and  the  soldier,  of  the  doctor,  the  tradesman, 
and  the  tavern,  of  the  animal  and  the  flower,  of  the  corpo- 
ration, the  guild,  and  the  patrol — this  was  what  the  Dutch 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


artist  carried  to  his  canvas.  In  his  pictures,  conscience, 
honesty,  and  truth  to  nature  are  the  ever  conspicuous 
traits. 

Among  Dutch  paintings  the  Corporation  pictures" 
claim  our  first  notice.    These  give  the  associated  portraits 


Fig,  117.— Banquet  of  the  Officers  of  the  Archers'  Corps  of  St,  Adrian. 
Franz  Hals.  Haarlem, 

of  the  leaders  of  the  various  guilds,  officers  of  the  military- 
companies,  heads  of  the  hospitals,  charitable  asylums  and 
the  like,  and  often  the  portrait  figures  are  full  length  and 
united  in  some  activity  peculiar  to  the  association. 

Rembrandt's  "  Anatomy  Lesson "  at  The  Hague  belongs 
to  a  class  of  pictures  representing  the  associations  of  the 
doctors,  to  which  this  motive  of  an  anatomical  lecture  and 
demonstration  was  common.  One  entire  room  in  the 
Amsterdam  Gallery  is  filled  with  similar  pictures,  all  illus- 


Seventeenth  Century  Dutch  Painting,  191 


trating  the  transcendent  genius  of  Rembrandt,  who  has 
caused  them  to  be  forgotten. 

To  a  Hke  class  of  paintings  belong  Rembrandt's  Cloth 
Merchants"  at  Amsterdam,  and  the  famous  series  by- 
Franz  Hals  at  Haarlem.  Rembrandt's  ''Night  Watch" 
at  Amsterdam  is  one  of  hundreds  of  similar  pictures  of  the 
patrols  and  military  bands.  It  represents  Captain  Franz 
Banning  Cocq's  company  of  arquebusiers  emerging  from 
their  guild  house. 


These  instances 
have  value  as  show- 
ing a  parallel  to  the 
conditions  of  Italian 
art,  and  a  similar  re- 
lation of  popularity 
and  public  interest. 

In  a  domestic  art  for 
the  home  and  the  pri- 
vate dwelling  Holland 
was  also  an  innovator. 
Earlier  paintings  had 
existed  for  public  build- 
ings, churches,  and 
palaces.  Domestic  art 
in  the  modern  sense 
had  been  previously 
unknown.     In  Ger- 


many   woodcuts    had    p,^.  „8.-Portrait.   Rembrandt.  Amsterdam. 

taken   its   place.  In 

Italy  the  need  of  it  had  not  been  felt  while  churches  and 
public  buildings  were  open  to  the  people. 

The  trivial,  anecdotal,  and  commonplace  subjects  of  the 
Dutch  painters  thus  become  an  interesting  turning  point  in 


Fig.  119— The  Doctor's  Visit.  Jan  Steen.   The  Hague. 


Seventeenth  Century  Dutch  Painting.  193 


the  history  of  civiHzation.  It  is  rarely,  however,  that  we 
do  not  find  a  point  to  the  story  or  a  permanent  interest 
attaching  to  the  scenes  from  daily  life.  In  fact  these 
pictures  are  better  than  an  open  book  for  the  study  of 
old  Dutch  civilization.  A  large  proportion  of  these  paint- 
ings are  of  small  dimensions  as  befitting  their  trivial  and 
domestic  subjects.  In  these  small  pictures  the  methods 
of  execution  are  refined  and  painstaking  to  the  point  of 


Fig.  120.— Dutch  Landscape.   Ruisdael.  Amsterdam. 


nicety.  In  larger  pictures,  as  for  instance  those  of  Hals 
and  Rembrandt,  the  method  changes  and  becomes  broad 
and  masterly.     In  color  and  design  the  old  Dutch  artists 


194  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


can  still  give  points  to  most  modern  painters.  Their 
greatest  works  are  still  unrivaled. 

Here  again  as  in  the  earlier  case  of  Italian  art,  we  do  not 
concede  that  native  genius  is  lacking  to  our  own  time.  We 


Fig,  121  .—Tavern  Scene.   David  Teniers  the  Younger.   The  Hague. 

only  point  to  the  fact  that  public  national  interest  and 
support  create  an  art  and  essentially  determine  its  char- 
acter. No  one  could  deny  that  for  the  given  area  and 
number  of  people,  the  production  of  pictures  in  seven- 
teenth century  Holland  was  more  active,  their  number 
greater,  their  relation  to  the  actual  lives  of  everyday 
people  closer  and  more  genuine,  than  in  any  country  of 
our  own  time.  Whoever  has  conceded  this  has  also  con- 
ceded that  an  average  superiority  of  old  Dutch  art  to  our 
own  was  a  natural  consequence. 


Seventeenth  Century  Dutch  Painting,  195 


On  the  other  hand  the  range  of  Dutch  subjects  belonged 
to  that  class  which  is  most  popular  to-day,  the  domestic  and 
the  anecdotal,  the  landscape  and  the  scene  from  real  life. 

It  is  interesting  to  see  that  as  early  as  the  seventeenth 
century  the  essential  features  of  the  nineteenth  century 
painting  were  thus  anticipated  and  prefigured. 

Many  pictures  analogous  in  subjects  to  those  affected 
by  the  Dutch  were  painted  by  the  Flemings  of  the  same 
period.  It  is  in  the  matter  of  religious  art  that  the 
two  schools  especially  fell  asunder.  David  Teniers  the 
Younger,  whose  tavern  scenes  are  world-famous,  is  the 
most  obvious  illustration  of  the  close  relations  often  ex- 
isting between  Dutch  and  Flemish  art. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


RENAISSANCE  SCULPTURE. 

Relations  to  Modern  History. 

It  may  be  regretted  that  a  division  of  topics  according  to 
different  arts  seems  to  detract  from  that  general  view  of  one 
given  century  as  a  whole  and  of  a  series  of  sequent  cen- 
turies, each  massed  in  contrast  with  the  others,  which  it 
should  be  our  main  effort  to  create.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  is  a  certain  cumulative  result  in  such  a  treatment, 
which  with  each  new  art  demonstrates  the  repetition  of  the 
same  essential  facts  for  a  given  time. 

Each  art,  whether  sculpture,  painting,  or  architecture, 
exhibited  in  fifteenth  century  Italy  the  same  simplicity, 
the  same  reserve,  the  same  faithful  striving  after  proportion 
and  scientific  accuracy.  Each  art  in  the  early  sixteenth 
century  showed  the  same  transcendent  mastery  of  means  as 
applied  to  ends,  the  same  culmination  of  power  and  mass, 
the  same  triumphant  self-assertion  of  a  new-born  modern 
civilization.  Each  art  in  the  seventeenth  century  exhibited 
a  similar  striving  for  effect,  a  similar  exaggeration  of  the 
picturesque  quality,  a  similar  disposition  to  exalt  the  means 
above  the  end  and  the  parts  above  the  whole. 

If  our  parallel  breaks  for  this  century  when  extended 
to  Dutch  painting,  it  holds  throughout  the  whole  of  Europe 
otherwise,  and  will  even  hold  for  Dutch  painting  if  we 
stretch  the  limit  into  the  eighteenth  century  when  this 
art  lost  every  element  of  its  earlier  vitality  and  power.  In 
the  eighteenth  century  England  took  the  place  in  art,  but 

196 


Renaissance  Sculpture. 


197 


not  in  the  same  high  degree,  which  had  in  the  sixteenth 
century  belonged  to  Italy,  and  which  had  in  the  seventeenth 
century  belonged  to  Holland,  Spain,  and  Flanders. 

In  all  these  arts  we  take  the  same  general  point  of  view 
regarding  these  gradual  changes,  that  art  as  a  whole  filled  a 
larger  place  in  daily  use  and  thought  before  printing  sub- 
stituted a  new  means  of  expression,  before  modern  national 
states  obliterated  the  rivalries  and  ambitions  of  civic  com- 
munities, before  the  enlargement  of  the  general  field  of 
science  tended  to  specialize  the  individual,  to  dwarf  the 
symmetry  of  character  and  the  wide  personal  experience 
which  are  the  best  education  for  the  artist  in  design. 

In  the  large  dimensions  of  our  great  modern  countries  it 
may  be  possible  for  a  musical  composer  or  a  great  author  to 
keep  in  touch  with  an  entire  nation.  Bret  Harte,  Dickens, 
or  Whittier,  or  the  composers  of  those  street  ballads  of  our 
day  which  we  affect  to  despise  and  which  will  go  down 
to  history  as  some  of  our  greatest  and  purest  efforts  of  art ; 
Beethoven,  Mozart,  and  Mendelssohn — such  men  may  still 
claim  a  hold  over  an  entire  nation  or  even  an  entire  civiliza- 
tion, for  the  power  of  music  is  not  fettered  by  the  bond  of 
language.  But  our  numbers  are  too  large  and  our  dis- 
tances too  great  for  a  painting,  statue,  or  building  to  master 
the  admiration  of  a  whole  nation.  The  book  or  the  musical 
composition  is  susceptible  of  multiplication  and  diffusion; 
not  so  the  work  of  art  which  is  seen.  At  first  hand,  it  can 
only  be  known  in  one  example. 

It  may  be  added  that  our  culture  is  too  complex  and  the 
eyes  of  most  of  us  too  dull.  The  artist  is,  and  always  will 
be,  the  spokesman  of  his  audience.  His  inspiration  and 
success  will  correspond  to  the  enthusiasm  and  the  interest 
of  that  audience.  It  is  only  a  World's  Fair  which  is  also  a 
Columbian  celebration  that  can  revive  the  conditions  and 


198  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


results  which  we  know  in  the  early  Renaissance  for  the  arts 
of  design  as  regards  work  done  for  the  admiration,  enjoy- 
ment, and  appreciation  of  an  enormous  multitude  of  people. 

Once  more,  then,  it  is  our  duty  to  say  that  the  history 
of  Renaissance  art  has  a  double  meaning  for  our  time. 
First  and  foremost  it  means  and  represents  modern  civiliza- 
tion at  large.  In  this  sense  it  is  representative  for  things 
and  facts  which  cannot  be  seen  but  which  it  may,  neverthe- 
less, imply — the  science,  industry,  comforts,  and  manners 
which  have  spread  from  Italy  for  all  modern  history. 

In  this  sense  Renaissance  art  has  been  perpetual.  The 
science  of  our  builder  will  go  back  to  it,  however  the 
external  form  may  change,  and  even  this  external  form, 
as  we  have  seen,  has  been  perpetuated  in  architecture. 
A  Rembrandt,  a  Reynolds,  or  a  Rousseau  may  abjure 
every  outward  trait  of  Italian  art  and  still  owe  every  stroke 
of  his  brush  to  its  inspiration.  So  likewise  the  modern 
sculptor  cannot  sever  his  connection  with  the  time  which 
revived  the  study  of  anatomy  and  the  science  of  form. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  the  arts  of  design  are  considered 
in  and  for  themselves  we  must  still  in  each  art  confess  the 
general  superiority  of  the  early  Renaissance  to  ourselves. 

In  certain  cases  it  must  be  admitted  that  our  modern 
American  sculptors  push  it  hard.  With  adequate  patron- 
age it  is  difficult  to  say  how  far  they  might  not  go  in  rivalry 
or  in  superiority;  whereas  in  painting  it  is  difficult  to 
see  how  later  time  can  equal  the  Renaissance,  unless  the 
same  subject  matter  could  be  revived;  for  an  art  must 
ultimately  be  judged  by  its  subject  matter,  and  no  subject 
matter  can  be  imagined  equal  to  that  which  the  Bible  sub- 
jects once  offered  for  painting.  All,  however,  that  can  be 
asked  of  any  art  or  of  any  century  is  that  it  be  true  to  itself 
and  to  its  opportunities. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


EARLY  RENAISSANCE  SCULPTURE. 


Critical  Review, 

As  WE  are  dealing  in  comparisons  and  with  a  view  to 
understanding  both  ourselves  and  the  past,  let  it  be  said 
here  what  is  the  great- 
est virtue  of  the  early 
Italian  sculpture. 

The  first  notion  of 
the  novice  in  criticism 
is  that  art  is  judged  by 
a  certain  amount  of 
technical  perfection 
and  of  positive  science. 
It  is  difficult  or  impos- 
sible to  imagine  from 
this  point  of  view  why 
one  artist  possessing 
the  requisite  positive 
science  might  not  al- 
ways equal  another 
possessing  the  same 

amount  of  science,  and  Fig.  122— Swathed  infant  in  Enameled  Terra 

.  ,        ,  Cotta.    By  Andrea  della  Robbia.    From  the 

dimCUlt  to  see  why  the        Architectural  Decorations  of  the  Loggia 
,  .      -  dei  Innocenti.  Florence.  Fifteenth  Cent. 

same  talent  and  the 

same  effort  might  not  always  reach  the  same  point  of 
science. 

To  the  first  difficulty  we  answer,  that  technical  science  in 

199 


200  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


art  up  to  a  point  of  comparative  perfection  is  assumed  to 
start  with,  by  the  historic  critic.  The  modern  is  supposed 
to  possess  it  before  he  could  reach  the  distinction  of  making 
a  pubHcly  exhibited  work.  That  is  the  affair  of  the  schools 
and  the  exhibitions.  The  old  artist  must  have  possessed  it 
to  have  won  a  place  in  the  estimation  of  centuries.  The 
historic  critic  does  not  worry  himself  over  the  slips  in  draw- 
ing which  a  modern  can  point  out  in  the  ''Last  Judg- 
ment.''   He  is  satisfied  with  knowing  that  no  modern 

has  drawn,  could  draw, 
or  can  draw,  a  similar 
number  of  variously 
fore-shortened  figures 
without  making  more 
mistakes.  We  do  not 
take  the  trouble  to  cor- 
rect the  grammar  of 
Shakespeare. 

What  is  then  in 
question  in  our  admi- 
ration for  Ghiberti  or 
Luca  della  Robbia  if  it 
be  not  the  technical 
science  ? 

The  answer  is  that 
all  classic  art,  whether 
in  music,  literature,  or 
design,  is  conditioned 

Fig.  123.— Equestrian  Statue  of  Gattamelata.  By  K-.;-  o  cpn ti m pn t  r»f  r»f»r 
Donatello.  Padua.  Fifteenth  Century.  uy  a  benumeni  oi  per- 
sonal unconsciousness 
or  simplicity  and  of  absorption  in  the  subject  matter.  All 
these  arts  exist  to  awaken  or  create  ideas.  The  form  exists 
for  the  sake  of  a  meaning.    If  then  the  ''Annunciation  "  of 


Early  Renaissance  Sculpture, 


20I 


a  Robbia  relief,  the  ''Christ  and  Peter  Walking  on  the 
Water, ' '  on  the  first  Ghiberti  doors,  or  the  equestrian  por- 
trait of  ' '  Gattamelata ' '  by  Donatello  has  that  stamp  of 
unconsciousness  and  of  simplicity,  or  of  great  power,  which 
art  carries  with  it  when 
the  meaning  fills  and 
transcends  the  form, 
we  pronounce  these 
works  classic  because 
the  artist  has  made  his 
technical  science  the 
means  to  an  end  and 
has  achieved  it  by 
sinking  his  own  per- 
sonality in  his  subject 
(Figs.  123,  125,  129). 

Great  art  is  generally 
simple,  the  greatest  art 
invariably  so.  It  is  the 
unconsciousness  and 
ease  of  good  breeding 
that  we  demand  from 
a  work  of  art — and 
just  as  good  breeding 
is  the  non-obtrusion  and  the  unconsciousness  of  self  so  it 
is  in  art.  Its  standard  is  the  conquest  of  self  in  behalf  of 
the  subject  matter.  Then  comes  the  question,  ''What  is 
that  subject  matter  ?  "  and  according  to  its  value  so  ranks 
the  work  of  art. 

Our  standards  are  the  same  and  our  point  of  view  the 
same  in  the  matter  of  early  Italian  painting,  but  it  is  much 
more  difficult  to  illustrate  a  painting,  whereas  we  can  fairly 
reproduce  the  sculpture  in  a  photograph,  especially  if  the 


Fig,  124.— Christ  Healing  the  Sick.  Architectural 
Medallion  in  Enameled    Terra  Cotta. 
By  Andrea  and  Luca  della  Robbia. 
Florence.   Fifteenth  Century. 


202  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


composition  be  simple.  As  far  as  pictures  are  concerned 
as  related  to  the  actual  text  of  my  book,  I  cannot  anywhere 
make  my  meaning  so  clear  or  force  the  reader  to  admira- 
tion and  respect  simply  by  illustration,  as  I  can  with  the 
statuary  art  of  the  Italian  fifteenth  century.  Its  charm  of 
unconsciousness  is  too  palpable  to  be  ignored,  too  evident 
to  be  overlooked,  and  too  beautiful  to  escape  appreciation. 
Let  us  choose  our  examples  first  where  the  point  is 
clearest;  the  ''Madonna  with  Angels,"  by  Luca  della 
Robbia  (Fig.  126),  the  ''Annunciation,"  by  Andrea  della 


Fig.  125.— The  Annunciation.   Relief  in  Enameled  Terra  Cotta.   By  Andrea 
della  Robbia.   Prato.   Fifteenth  Century. 


Robbia  (Fig.  125),  "Christ  Healing  the  Sick,"  by  Luca 
and  Andrea  della  Robbia  (Fig.  124),  the     Swathed  In^ 


Early  Renaissance  Sculpture. 


203 


fant,"  by  Andrea della  Robbia  (Fig.  122),  the  ^'Madonna/' 
probably  by  Mino  da  Fiesole  (Fig.  139). 

Now  this  trait  of  unconsciousness  and  simplicity  does  not 
lie  solely  in  the  genius  of  the  individual  artist,  it  lies  also  in 


Fig,  126,— 'Lunette  in  Enameled  Terra  Gotta.    By  Luca  della  Robbia.    Still  in 
position  over  a  Florentine  Doorway.   Madonna  and  Child 
with  Angels.  Fifteenth  Century, 


the  genius  of  a  period.  The  whole  Greek  sculpture  is 
saturated  with  it  until  we  reach  the  decadence  of  Greek 
sculpture,  and  by  the  absence  of  that  quality  that  decadence 
is  fixed  and  determined.  This  trait  is  the  essential  deter- 
minant in  our  estimate  of  Dutch  painting.  Its  absence 
fixes  the  place  of  the  Italian  art  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
Compare  the  ''Annunciation"  by  Sassoferrato  (Fig.  107), 
with  the  ' '  Annunciation  ' '  by  Andrea  della  Robbia.  Com- 
pare the  Madonnas  of  Guido,  or  of  Carlo  Dolci  with  those 
of  the  Robbias  and  of  Mino  da  Fiesole. 


204  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art 


We  will  return  now  to  the  presumed  case  of  the  novice, 
who  supposes  that  scientific  and  technical  perfection  fixes 
the  place  of  a  work  of  art,  and  declare  that  this  perfection 
has  little  to  do  with  it.  For  wherever  the  mission  exists 
which  needs  to  find  an  utterance  in  art,  there  will  the  tools 
be  found  to  make  this  utterance,  and  the  conscience  which 
will  learn  the  use  of  those  tools  up  to  the  point  required. 

It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  hundreds  on  hundreds  of 
paintings,  all  in  fact  painted  in  the  greatest  time  of  Italian 
art,  bear  this  quality  to  view  of  unconsciousness,  of  in- 
genuous sincerity,  of  absorption  in  the  subject  matter  for  its 
own  sake,  but  so  it  is.  It  long  outlasted  the  time  of  Michael 
Angelo's  "Last  Judgment"  in  Venetian  paintings  and 
otherwise  mainly  disappeared  from  Italian  art  after  1530. 
In  fifteenth  century  Italian  sculpture  it  is  the  conspicuous 
and  obvious  charm. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


EARLY  RENAISSANCE  SCULPTURE. 


Historic  Sketch. 

The  earliest  dawn  of  modern  feeling  for  nature  and  of 
interest  in  ancient  sculpture  as  an  assistance  to  its  study 
is  found  with  Nicolo  of  Pisa  and  in  his  pulpit  made  for 
the  Baptistery  in  Pisa 
about  the  year  1260. 
His  son  Giovanni  car- 
ried this  feeling  and 
this  interest  into  the 
fourteenth  century  and 
headed  a  school  of 
artists  whose  works  are 
found  in  many  parts  of 
Italy.*  Among  these 
one  of  the  most  im- 
portant is  the  pair  of 
bronze  doors  made  for 
the  Florence  Baptistery 
by  Andrea  Pisano  with 
panel  compositions 
from  the  life  of  John  the 

Baptist.  The  designs  Fig.  127.— The  Baptistery  of  Florence.  The  Doors 
of  Giotto  for  reliefs  on  ^^^^  t)y  Andrea  Pisano;  those  on  the 

right  are  the  second  pair  by  Ghiberti. 

the  Florence  Cam- 
panile (bell-tower  of  the  Cathedral),  are  also  works  of  great 


*"  Roman  and  Medieval  Art,"  Figs.  126,  127,  12 

205 


,  131- 


2o6  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


power  and  interest.*  In  the  main,  however,  fresco  paint- 
ing had  absorbed  the  activity  of  fourteenth  century  Italian 
art.  The  best  comparison  for  the  average  ItaHan  sculpture 
in  relief  during  the  fourteenth  century  with  that  now  to 
be  considered,  is  offered  by  an  illustration  quoted  in  foot- 
note for  the  works  of  Giovanni  Pisano  and  scholars  at 
Orvieto.  For  statues  the  Madonna"  by  Giovanni  Pisano 
at  Prato,  quoted  in  foot-note,  offers  a  similar  typical  con- 
trast which  will  hold  good  for  other  works. 

In  our  detailed  account  of  fifteenth  century  Italian  sculp- 
ture we  begin  with  the 
opening  of  the  century 
and  the  first  pair  of 
bronze  doors  made  by 
Lorenzo  Ghiberti  for 
the  Baptistery  in  Flor- 
ence (1403-1424). 

The  pictorial  beauty 
and  more  realistic  de- 
tails of  the  second  pair 
of  doors  by  the  same 
artist,  have  tended  to 
obscure  the  importance 
of  these  earlier  ones. 
They  are  often  over- 
looked by  travelers 
and  by  illustrators. 
No  cast  of  them  can  be 
seen  in  this  country;  but  the  power  of  the  compositions  is 
at  least  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  those  subsequently  made. 
The  compositions  are  simpler,  more  circumscribed  and 


Fig.  128.— Christ  and  the  Money  Changers. 
Bronze  Relief  Panel.    From  the  first 
pair  of  Doors  by  Ghiberti. 


*"  Roman  ajid  Medieval  Art,"  Figs.  129,  130 — the  execution  of  the  latter  is  by 
Luca  della  Robbia. 


Early  Renaissance  Sculpture, 


207 


more  concentrated.  For  the  designs  of  ' '  Christ  and  the 
Money  Changers ' '  and  ' '  Christ  and  Peter  Walking  on  the 
Water,"  our  illustrations  will  speak,  and  speak  eloquently. 
It  would  be  difficult  to 
mention  more  powerful 
compositions  in  the 
whole  range  of  Chris- 
tian art  (Figs.  128, 
129). 

The  commission  for 
the  second  and  more 
famous  pair  of  bronze 
doors  was  undertaken 
in  1425  and  completed 
in  1452,  so  that  fifty 
years'  labor  was  alto- 
gether devoted  to  these 
two  works  of  art. 

Should  the  question 
arise  as  to  a  compari- 
son between  our  mod- 
ern artists  and  Ghiberti,  it  would  be  unfair  to  judge  the 
former  until  some  modern  city  or  national  government  is 
willing  to  allot  an  equal  amount  of  time  and  proportion- 
ate payment  for  the  creation  of  similar  works  of  art.  The 
willingness  to  wait  twenty-seven  years  for  the  completion  of 
one  commission  and  to  pay  large  yearly  stipends  for  that 
length  of  time  both  to  Ghiberti  and  to  his  numerous  assist- 
ants tells  the  whole  story  of  the  perfection  of  early  Renais- 
sance art. 

The  general  appearance  of  the  panels  and  surrounding 
borders  of  the  second  pair  of  bronze  doors  is  best  ex- 
plained by  the  illustrations.    In  these  panels  are  repre- 


Fig.  129. — Christ  and  Peter  Walking  on  the 
Water."    Bronze  Relief  Panel  from  the 
first  pair  of  Ghiberti's  Doors. 


2o8  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


sented  important  events  of  Old  Testament  history — the 
Creation,  story  of  Cain  and  Abel,  story  of  Noah,  story 
of  Abraham,  etc.  For  the  great  beauty  of  the  composi- 
tions in  these  panels,  for  instance  in  the  story  of  Jacob 
and  Esau  or  the  story  of  Joseph,  we  can  scarcely  find 
parallels  outside  the  much  later  works  of  Raphael.  For 
the  pose  and  designs  of  single  figures  (story  of  Abraham, 
story  of  Noah),  we  are  not  less  at  a  loss  for  parallels 
even  when  the  sixteenth  century  is  admitted  to  the  com- 
parison (Figs.  132,  133,  134,  135). 

The  marvel  begins  to  fully  reveal  itself  only  when  we 

consider  the  dates  and 
look  for  parallels  in  the 
art  of  Ghiberti's  own 
time. 

The  art  of  sculpture 
logically  precedes  that 
of  painting,  for  the 
form  must  be  con- 
ceived as  a  solid  before 
it  can  be  transferred  in 
outline  to  a  flat  surface. 
No  doubt  the  whole 
fifteenth  century  sculp- 
ture is  superior  to  the 
contemporary  paint- 

30.— Design  for  a  Bronze  Door  Panel  by  IHg,  but  again  the  mar- 
Brunellesco.  The  Sacrifice  of  Isaac.  Florence,  ^j^^^  Ghibcrti 

should,  as  the  first  among  moderns,  have  reached  a  point 
of  perfection  in  his  figure  compositions  which  the  nineteenth 
century  has  not  rivaled. 

We  have  seen  that  the  frescoes  of  Masaccio  in  the  Bran- 
cacci  Chapel  date  between  1423  and  1428,  but  in  the  com- 


FlG 


Early  Renaissance  Sculpture. 


209 


positions  for  the  first  Ghiberti  doors  we  go  back  to  1403. 
The  more  we  know  of  preceding  fourteenth  century  art,  the 
more  the  wonder  grows  in  spite  of  various  connecting  hnks 
which  here  and  there  can  be  estabHshed. 

We  know,  however,  of  a  competition  of  designs  as 
having  been  held  for 

the  of  the  ■■illll^K^^BBHH^^^H 


of  Isaac.  The  story  goes  that  the  judges  were  unable 
to  decide  until  Brunellesco  himself  gave  judgment  against 
himself  and  retired  from  the  competition  (Figs.  130,  131). 

Later  criticism  has  universally  conceded  the  superior 
dignity  and  beauty  of  the  panel  by  Ghiberti.  Still  we  see 
that  he  was  by  no  means  absolutely  isolated  in  the  perfec- 
tion of  his  art  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

Remembering  Brunellesco  as  the  first  great  reviver  of 
ancient  forms  in  architecture,  it  is  interesting  to  notice 
in  Ghiberti' s  designs  (story  of  Joseph,  story  of  Jacob  and 
Esau)  the  classic  details  of  the  buildings  and  to  relate  the 


artist  of  the  first 
bronze  doors  in  ques- 
tion, and  that  three 
artists  besides  Ghiberti 
entered  this  contest. 
The  competitive  de- 
sign of  Brunellesco, 
whom  we  shall  remem- 
ber as  the  first  great 
architect  of  the  Renais- 
sance (p.  72),  is  still 
preserved  in  Florence 
beside  the  prize  design 
of  Ghiberti;  both  sub- 
jects from  the  Sacrifice 


Fig.  131. — Design  for  a  Bronze  Door  Panel  by 
Ghiberti.    The  Sacrifice  of  Isaac.  Florence. 


Fig.  132.— Second  pair  of  Bronze  Doors  by  Ghiberti.    Florence  Baptistery. 


Early  Renaissance  Sculpture, 


211 


spirit  which  copied  them  to  that  which  had  such  perception 
for  nature  and  for  beauty  and  such  science  in  re-creating 
them.  The  double  character  of  the  Renaissance,  enthusi- 
asm for  antiquity  and  enthusiasm  for  visible  nature,  thus 
appears  in  this  one  work.  The  influence  of  ancient  art 
is  also  seen  in  the  pose  and  draping  of  the  figures.  Those 


Fig.  i;33.— The  Story  of  Jacob  and  Esau.   Detail  from  the  secon4  pair  of  Bronze 
Doors  by  Ghiberti. 

especially  of  the  allegorical  figures  of  the  borders,  as  being 
of  somewhat  larger  size  than  the  figures  of  the  panel  com- 
positions, offer  clear  illustration  of  this  point  (Figs.  133, 
134,  135)- 

Among  the  medallion  heads  of  these  borders  are  portraits 
of  leading  Florentine  artists,  Ghiberti' s  own  among  them. 


212  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


The  outer  framework  of  the  door  is  a  wonderful  illustration 
of  realistic  science,  while  the  details  as  placed  in  combination 
show  an  antique  influence  in  arrangement.  Casts  of  these 
details  are  still  frequently  used  in  schools  of  art  as  models 
for  the  modern  student  (Fig.  136). 

It  is  habitual  for  critical  writers  to  allude  to  the  departure 
from  relief  style  which  Ghiberti  allowed  himself  in  these 
bronze  doors.  They  undoubtedly  show  an  amount  of 
pictorial  detail  which  goes  beyond  the  theoretic  limits 


Fig,  134,— Sacrifice  of  Isaac.  Abraham  and  the  Angels.  Hagar  and  Ishmael  in  the 
Desert.    Detail  from  the  second  pair  of  Bronze  Doors  by  Ghiberti, 


proper  for  a  solid  material  like  bronze  and  for  sculptured 
relief  as  practiced  by  the  Greeks.  It  is  hardly  worth  while, 
however,  even  to  mention  such  a  point.  The  significance 
of  the  work  is  pictorial.    It  illustrates  the  realism  of  the 


Early  Renaissance  Sculpture, 


213 


Renaissance  and  the  precedence  of  Ghiberti  in  that  realism. 
Its  main  influence  was  undoubtedly  pictorial,  and  we  should 
consider  it  the  great  landmark  of  the  Renaissance  art  of 


Fig.  \I35,— The  Story  of  Joseph  and  his  Brethren.    Detail  from  the  second 
pair  of  Bronze  Doors  by  Ghiberti. 


design  in  general  rather  than  confine  our  point  of  view  to 
sculpture  and  the  canons  of  Greek  relief. 

There  is  still  something  to  be  said  of  the  Ghiberti  doors. 
We  notice  in  their  panels  a  combination  of  episodes  in  one 
field.  This  is  seen  in  the  story  of  Joseph,  the  story  of 
Jacob  and  Esau,  the  story  of  Abraham,  the  story  of  Noah. 
This  combination  occurs  without  indications  of  local  di- 
vision, although  the  localities  are  conceived  in  all  these 
cases,  except  the  story  of  Joseph  and  story  of  Jacob,  as 
various  and  distinct.  In  these  last  cases  the  episodes 
are  also  distinct  in  time,  though  not  in  place. 


214  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


We  have  here  a  method  which  also  constantly  occurs 
in  Italian  fresco  and  which  is  an  inheritance  from  the 
earliest  Christian  art — an  illustration  of  its  ideal  standpoint 
and  of  its  independence  of  illusion  even  when  realism  had 
become  a  controlling  interest.  Such  arrangement  was 
obviously  conducive  to  balanced  composition  in  large 
panels,  whether  of  frescoed  walls  or  otherwise.  It  ad- 
mitted brief  and  simple  characterization  of  each  special 
story  and  gave  the  work  of  art  a  comprehensive  effect. 

We  find  this  method  continuing  in  the  sixteenth  century 
art.     Raphael's  ''Transfiguration"  includes  the  double 

story  of  the  possessed 
boy  and  of  the  Trans- 
figuration itself,  events 
locally  separate  but 
spiritually  related, 
since  the  disciples  could 
not  cast  out  the  devil 
in  the  absence  of  the 
Savior.  Michael  An- 
gelo  represented  the 
*  *  Temptation  and  Ex- 
pulsion from  Eden ' ' 
on  one  panel  of  the 
Sistine  Chapel  ceiling. 
Countless  parallel  cases 
could  be  instanced. 
For  example,  in  the 
Sistine  Madonna,  by 
Raphael,  we  have 
actually  represented 
the  dream  or  vision  of  the  pope  who  is  kneeling  in  the 
picture. 


Fig.  136.— Decorative  Details  from  the  outer 
Framework  of  the  second  pair  of 
Bronze  Doors  by  Ghiberti. 


Early  Renaissance  Sculpture. 


215 


Fig.  137. — Equestrian  Statue  of  Colleoni. 
Verocchio.   Venice.    Fifteenth  Century. 


Before  leaving  the  bronze  doors  of  Ghiberti  we  must 

  allude  to  the  curious 

fate  which  has  given 
not  only  precedence  in 
time,  but  an  actually 
unique  importance  in 
the  matter  of  parallel 
works  to  this  single 
one.  It  did  not  hap- 
pen that  any  similar 
commission  was  under- 
taken in  any  other  Ital- 
ian city  within  the 
limits  of  the  great 
By  period.  Other  bronze 
doors,  for  instance  of 
the  Pisa  Cathedral,  belong  to  a  time  when  overcrowded 
compositions  and  ex- 
cess of  small  details 
had  quite  overpowered 
the  sentiment  for  sim- 
plicity of  effect.  The 
doors  of  Ghiberti  not 
only  stand  first,  but 
they  stand  alone  in 
their  perfection  for  the 
given  class  of  works. 

We  must  place  as 
next  in  time  and  im- 
portance to  these 
works  the  colossal 
equestrian  portrait 
statues  executed  by  Donatello  and  Verocchio,  both  Floren- 


FiG,  138. — Bust  of  Nicole  da  Uzzano. 
atello.   Fifteenth  Century. 


By  Don- 


21 6  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


tines,  and  later  contemporaries  of  Ghiberti  and  Brunellesco. 
Donatello's  statue  of  the  Venetian  mercenary  captain,  Gat- 
tamelata,  is  in  Padua  (1453).  Verocchio's  statue  of  the 
Venetian  captain,  CoUeoni,  is  in  Venice  (1476).  These 
two  equestrian  figures  are  not  only  the  first  but  also 
undoubtedly  the  greatest  of  modern  history  and  are  so 
generally  considered;  that  of  Verocchio  is  the  inimitable 
masterpiece  of  all  equestrian  statues.  For  Donatello's  own 
masculine  and  sturdy  character  as  well  as  for  the  noble 
quality  of  his  art,  the  bust  illustrated  by  Fig.  138  will  also 

serve  as  an  example. 

Donatello  ranks  in 
time  and  general  sig- 
nificance as  the  most 
important  sculptor  pre- 
ceding  Michael  An- 
gelo,  but  the  position 
claimed  by  the  Floren- 
tine, Luca  della  Robbia 
and  his  nephew,  An- 
drea, would  seem  to 
make  them  more  fairly 
the  subjects  for  repre- 
sentative illustration  of 
Italian  art  at  large 
during  the  same  period. 

Luca  della  Robbia 
was  a  successful  artist 
both  in  bronze  and 
marble.  In  the  latter 
material  are  his  well-known  reliefs  for  the  balustrade  of 
the  organ-loft  of  the  Florence  Cathedral  which  are  now  in 
Florence  as  museum  exhibits.    But  it  was  in  the  glazed  or 


Fig.  139.— Marble  Shrine  Relief  of  the  Madonna 
and  Child  in  Vienna.  Florentine  Work.  Fif- 
teenth Century.   School  of  Mino  da  Fiesole. 


Early  Renaissance  Sculpture, 


217 


enameled  terra  cotta  reliefs  in  color,  which  he  was  the  first 
to  execute,  that  he  won  especial  renown. 

This  art  was  practiced  by  several  and  successive  mem- 
bers of  his  family  and  flourished  till  about  1525.  It  then 
died  out  and  has  never  been  rediscovered  or  revived.  The 
peculiarly  unpretentious  and  simple  style  of  these  works 
is  beyond  all  praise.  They  were  used  for  decoration  of  ex- 
terior brick  architecture,  as  medallions  between  arches, 
as  lunettes  in  the  arched  spaces  over  doorways,  etc.,  and 
also  for  altar-pieces,  tombs,  and  votive  tablets.  Con- 
sidering the  inadequate  effect  of  photographs  from  paint- 
ings, there  is  no  access  to  a  knowledge  of  early  Italian  art 
like  that  conveyed  by  photographs  of  these  reliefs  (Figs. 
122,  124,  125,  126). 

In  marble  reliefs,  mainly  of  Madonnas,  a  peculiarly 
lovely  phase  of  early  Florentine  art  is  also  illustrated. 
Mino  da  Fiesole,  Desiderio  da  Settignano,  and  Benedetto  da 
Majano  were  the  representative  artists  for  this  class  of 
work. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


RENAISSANCE  SCULPTURE. 


Philosophy  of  its  Decline. 

We  have  still  a  thought  to  offer  regarding  the  sculpture 
of  the  early  Renaissance,  one  which  suggests  itself  through 
the  illustrations  of  Donatello's  ''St.  George"  and  of  the 

''Davids''  by  Dona- 
tello  and  Verocchio 
(Figs.  141,  142),  all 
of  which  are  works 
held  in  high  estimation 
by  students  of  this 
period.  This  thought 
concerns  the  distinction 
between  the  statues  of 
this  period  as  w^orks 
of  art  considered  for 
themselves,  as  illus- 
trations of  its  science 
of  design  and  great 
advance  over  ages  pre- 
ceding, and  the  same 
statues  considered  in 
their  historic  relation 
to  the  whole  art  of  the 
period  and  in  their  relation  to  the  later  position  of  sculpture 
among  the  arts  of  the  Renaissance. 

It  is  apparent  that  the  subjects  of  Christian  art  do  not 

218 


Fig.  140.— St.  George.    By  Donatello.  Florence. 
Fifteenth  Century. 


Renaissance  Sculpture, 


219 


offer  a  large  field  for  statues.  As  concerns  close  relation  to 
Christian  art  it  will  be  readily  felt  that  the  reliefs  of  the 
fifteenth  century  are  most  interesting  and  most  distinctly 
related  to  their  ostensible  subject  matter.  In  Donatello's 
''David^'  or  ''St. 
George^*  we  have  a 
class  of  subjects  which 
soon  exhausts  itself  and 
one  where  the  appear- 
ance of  the  statue  is 
but  dimly  related  to 
our  sympathies  with 
the  ostensible  subject. 

The  number  of  such 
works  is  not  large  in 
the  whole  amount  of 
the  art  of  the  Renais- 
sance. Isolated  statues 
of  the  Apostles  or  the 
Savior  are  not  so  in- 
teresting as  a  painting 
of  the  ' '  Last  Supper ' ' 
or  the  cartoons  of  Ra- 
phael from  the  lives  of 
the  Apostles.  The 
pictorial  reliefs  of  Ghiberti  from  the  story  of  Joseph  are 
more  interesting  in  their  relation  to  subject  matter  than 
statues  of  David.  Christian  art  has  always  found  its  most 
sympathetic  field  in  painting  or  pictorial  sculpture,  that  is 
in  relief 

Sculpture  offers  the  readiest  illustration  of  Renaissance 
science.  It  preceded  painting  in  the  matter  of  high  perfec- 
tion.  (On  the  other  hand  let  us  not  forget  that  many  of  the 


Fig.  141. — David,  by  Verocchio.  Florence. 
Fifteenth  Century. 


220  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


great  sculptors  of  the  fifteenth  century  were  also  painters. 
This  holds  of  Verocchio  and  PoUajuolo  (Fig.  69),  for 
instance. )  The  sculptors'  studies  were  the  basis  of  all  the 
progress  that  painting  made  at  this  time  and  of  the  per- 
fection which  it  reached  a  generation  later,  because  they 
conditioned  the  scientific  study  of  form  ;  but  in  the  later 
Renaissance  we  detect  a  greater  and  greater  ascendancy 
of  the  art  of  painting  and  the  subjection  of  statuary  to  pic- 
torial influence. 

Statuary  more  and  more  became  the  work  of  isolated 

patronage  and  was  ulti- 
mately rather  the  reflex 
of  pictorial  tendencies 
than  an  art  for  its  own 
sake.  This  at  least  was 
its  fate  in  the  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth 
centuries,  when  it  sank 
to  a  condition  of  medi- 
ocrity and  weakness  far 
below  the  level  of  the 
contemporary  pictures. 

I  should  be  inclined, 
therefore,  to  say  that  the 
paintings  of  the  fifteenth 
century  offer  most  mat- 
ter for  the  historian; 
the  statues  rather  appeal 

Fig.  i42.-David,  by  Donatello.   Florence.       |_o  the  special   taStCS  of 
Fifteenth  Century.  ^ 

the  art  critic  and  the 
student  of  design.  They  are  certainly  far  less  numerous, 
and  it  would  be  hard  to  find  many  parallels  for  the  dis- 
tinction of  those  which  are  illustrated,  whereas  in  pictures 


Renaissance  Sculpture, 


221 


or  in  reliefs  what  one  can  offer  in  illustration  is  an  infin- 
itesimal suggestion  of  the  actual  production. 

All  this  may  serve  as  introduction  to  the  topic  of  Michael 
Angelo's  sculpture  and  the  sudden  decline  not  only  in 
quality  but  also  in  productivity  which  followed  his  pro- 
digious creations.  The  tomb  monuments  of  the  churches 
supplied  the  main  field  of  later  activity  for  this  art.  In  the 
seventeenth  century  there  was  a  revival  in  the  amount  of 
production  related  to  the  general  extravagance  and  luxury 
of  Catholic  church  decoration  at  this  time,  but  the  heart 
and  soul  had  then  gone  from  the  art.  It  was  mostly 
empty  display  and  theatrical  posturing. 


CHAPTER  XXVIL 


RENAISSANCE  SCULPTURE. 


Michael  Angelo. 

As  A  sculptor  Michael  Angelo  stood  on  the  shoulders 
of  Donatello  and  Verocchio  and  added  to  their  supreme 
science  the  passion,  frenzy,  and  explosive  power  of  his  own 

volcanic  nature.  His 
peculiar  quality  is  best 
appreciated  from  his 
later  works,  the  Mo- 
ses of  San  Pietro  in 
Vinculi  at  Rome  and 
the  Tombs  of  the 
Medici  in  Florence. 

The  Moses  is  the 
most  important  figure 
and  feature  of  the  tomb 
of  Pope  Julius  n.,  who 
was  the  artist's  great- 
est patron  and  warmest 
appreciator.  The 
whole  character  of 
Michael  Angelo  is  re- 
vealed by  his  concep- 

FiG.  143.— Detail  of  the  David  by  Michael        tion     of    MoSCS  aS 
Angelo.    Florence.  .  .  ,  . 

Witnessing  the  worship 
of  the  golden  calf;  as  about  to  spring  from  his  seat  and 


Renaissance  Sculpture. 


223 


dash  to  fragments  the  tablets  of  the  law  which  had  been 
revealed  to  him. 

There  is  a  closer  relation  to  the  history  of  his  own 
time  and  his  own  life  in  this  statue  than  we  might  suspect. 
In  political  life  Michael  Angelo  had  been  a  warm  partisan 


Fig.  144. — Moses,  by  Michael  Angelo.  Rome. 


and  the  military  commander  for  the  Commonwealth  of 
Florence  in  its  final  struggle  and  downfall  (p.  36).  He 
belonged  then  to  the  party  of  the  old  Republic  and 
hated  the  party  of  foreign  despotism  and  success.  Com- 
mercial and  money-making  interests  played  no  small  part 


224  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


in  this  revolution.  The  Medici  who  were  credited  with 
having  overthrown  the  liberties  of  Florence,  belonged  to 
the  richest  and  most  prominent  banking  family  of  that 
state.  Spain  and  the  Hapsburg  dynasty  of  Austria  were 
working  in  their  interest. 

What  Michael  Angelo  saw  as  an  Italian  patriot  was 


Fig.  145.— Detail  of  the  Tomb  of  Lorenzo  Medici.   By  Michael  Angelo, 

the  fast  coming  decadence  of  his  country  and  a  social  revo- 
lution which  had  brought  the  meaner  and  more  grasping 
tendencies  of  life  to  the  front.  His  Moses"  was  the  pro- 
test against  a  worship  of  the  golden  calf  which  he  saw  in  his 
own  time  and  which  had  embittered  his  own  life. 


Renaissance  Sculpture, 


225 


In  the  same  way  his  Tombs  of  the  Medici  are  well 
known  to  have  been  in  his  own  view  and  that  of  his 
time,  the  tombs  of  the  Florentine  Republic.  Made  in  the 
service  and  for  the  glory  of  a  family  which  he  hated, 
he  disguised  in  these  works  the  sorrow  of  the  patriot 
and  the  regrets  of  the  lost  cause. 

The  tombs  are  those  of  the  last  two  legitimate  members 
of  the  Medici  family,  Giuliano  and  Lorenzo.  Their  seated 
figures  are  placed  in  niches,  beneath  which  are  the  sar- 
cophagi supporting  respectively  figures  of  ' '  Dawn ' '  and 

Twilight,"  ^'Day  and  Night."  ^^Dawn"  and  Twi- 
light" are  allegories  of 
the  twilight  of  the  ex- 
piring moments  of  life 
on  earth  and  of  the 
dawn  of  the  spirit  life. 
*^Day"  and  '^Night" 
are  conceived  as  the 
antitheses  of  life  and 
death.  These  tombs 
are  in  a  chapel  of  the 
Florentine  Church  of 
San  Lorenzo,  whose 
erection  by  Brunellesco 
has  been  mentioned 
(p.  73),  and  were  fin- 
ished about  1534. 

Of  earlier  date,  about  Fig.  146.— Tomb  of  Lorenzo  Medici.  Florence. 
I513     are    the    two       Allegorical  Figures  of  Twilight  and  Dawn. 

Captives"  now  in  the  Louvre.  An  entire  series  of  these 
figures  was  to  have  surrounded  the  tomb  of  Julius  IL, 
emblematic  of  the  arts  and  sciences  held  captive  by  Julius 
n.  and  dying  with  him.    After  the  death  of  the  pope  the 


226 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


diminished  plan  of  his  tomb  made  it  impossible  to  connect 
these  finished  figures  with  it,  and  they  found  their  way 
to  France. 

Here  again  the  prophetic  misanthropy  of  Michael  Angelo 
has  its  own  inner  meaning.    We  have  seen  how  the  court 


foresight  of  the  artist  had  its  part  in  this  allegory  of  the 
Captives.    Certainly  their  prophecy  was  fulfilled. 

Contortions  and  twistings  of  the  human  figure  are  the 
sign  manual  of  the  artist's  mood  in  most  of  these  various 
works,  a  reflex  of  his  own  irritability  and  unhappiness. 
No  doubt  his  anatomic  studies  and  desire  to  produce 
new  and  startling  effects  are  also  accountable  for  this 
manner.  At  all  events  he  is  the  first  artist  in  whom  we 
detect  the  disappearance  of  early  Renaissance  unconscious- 


FiG.  147. — Allegorical  Figure  of  the  Day,  from 
the  Tomb  of  Giuliano  Medici  by 
Michael  Angelo. 


of  Leo  X.  was  one  of 
mainly  borrowed 
glories  (p.  140),  and 
how  the  invasions  of 
Milan  and  Naples  at 
the  close  of  the  fifteenth 
century  had  already  in- 
dicated the  approach- 
ing downfall  of  Italy. 
The  pontificate  of  Julius 
II.  was  devoted  to  the 
expulsion  of  the  foreign 
invaders  of  Italy.  His 
death  was  the  signal 
for  new  invasions  whose 
results  after  1520  we 
have  described  (pp. 
35-41).  There  is  no 
doubt  that  the  political 


Renaissance  Sculpture, 


227 


ness  and  simplicity.  (See  also  notes  on  the  ''Last  Judg- 
ment," p.  155.)  The  grandeur  of  his  thought  and  con- 
ception makes  it  impossible  to  reckon  this  mannerism 
against  him,  but  it  infected  the  imitators  and  weaker 
followers  of  his  greatness. 

The  inflated  style  of  the  decadence  found  its  type  in 
Michael  Angelo.  In  his  very  protest  against  the  coming 
epoch  he  was  fated  to  influence  its  forms. 

In  the  two  greatest  early  works  of  this  sculptor  we  find  a 
more  dignified  and  serener  art.  These  are  his  colossal 
David  in  Florence  and  the  Dead  Savior  in  the  lap  of 
the  Virgin*  in  St. 
Peter's  at  Rome.  His 
earliest  youthful  work, 
the  mask  of  a  Faun,  is 
still  preserved  in  Flor- 
ence. Here  also  are 
his  statues  of  Bacchus 
and  Adonis.  The 
list  of  his  important 
works  also  includes 
the  Cupid  at  South 
Kensington  in  Lon- 
don, a  Madonna  in 
Bruges,  and  the 
Christ  of  the  Church 
of  Santa  Maria  Sopra 
Minerva  in  Rome. 

The  story  of  Michael 

Angelo' S  life  as  told  by         Fig.  i48.-Captive,  by  Michael  Angelo. 

Vasari,  who  personally  Louvre. 

knew  him,  is  an  almost  essential  thing  to  the  compre- 

*  This  typical  subject  is  called  by  the  Italians  a  **  Piet^." 


228  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


hension  of  his  art.  Deep  piety  and  warm  kindness  of 
heart  were  cloaked  by  surly  manners  and  concealed  by 
solitude.  I  have  already  mentioned  Grimm's  ''Life  of 
Michael  Angelo"  as  giving  not  only  the  artist's  life,  but 
also  the  political  history  of  Italy  as  connected  with  it.  It 
also  contains  a  summary  of  the  whole  Italian  art  history 
of  the  time. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


RENAISSANCE  SCULPTURE. 


Later  Styles  and  Decadence. 


No  SKETCH  of  Italian  art  could  pass,  without  mention, 
the  name  of  Benvenuto  Cellini,  the  goldsmith  and  sculptor, 
whose  greatest  surviving  work  is  the  Perseus  in  Flor- 
ence. Cellini  was  born  in 
1500,  a  quarter  of  a  century 
after  Michael  Angelo.  His 
statue  dates  from  the  middle  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  but  the 
traditions  and  style  of  the  great 
period  still  survive  in  this  work. 
The  art  of  sculpture  in  Italy  at 
this  time  had  otherwise  gener- 
ally sunk  into  relative  affec- 
tation and  mannerism. 

In  France  we  can  quote 
serious  and  beautiful  work  from 
the  hands  of  Goujon,  Pilon,  and 
others.  A  certain  elongation 
of  the  figure  and  somewhat 
dainty  elegance  of  conception 
which  are  visible  in  their  works  reflect  the  Italian  style  ol 
the  same  day  (Fig.  150). 

We  also  notice  the  twisting  of  the  figure  as  a  trait  con- 
stantly repeated  in  later  art  and  borrowed  originally  from 
Michael  Angelo.    To  an  illustration  of  some  of  Goujon' s 


Fig. 


149. — Perseus,  by  Benvenuto 
Cellini.  Florence. 


229 


230  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


■J 


beautiful  relief  designs  for  a  fountain  in  Paris,  we  must  add 
a  renewed  reference  to  some  preceding  pictures  of  French 
Renaissance  tomb  sculpture  and  architectural  statuary,  all 
of  which  will  assist  the  reader  to  understand  the  Italian 
quality,  and  origin  of  French  and  other  modern  sculpture 
(Figs.  3,  10,  18). 

It  is  difficult  in  a  rapid  summary  to  avoid  oversights  of 

fine  survivals  of  the 
better  and  earlier 
Italian  Renaissance 
style  in  later  north 
European  Renaissance 
art,  but  we  must  not 
entirely  forget  the  fine 
Renaissance  wood 
carvings  of  Belgium 
(Fig.  153).  The  tomb 
of  Queen  Elizabeth  in 
Westminster  Abbey 
would  also  show  how 
far  the  Italian  style  had 
traveled  and  how  uni- 
versal it  had  become. 

In  the  early  sixteenth 
century  Germany 
boasted  the  important 
names  of  Adam  Krafft, 
whose  most  famous  works  are  the  reliefs  known  as  the 
Seven  Stations  of  the  Cross,  at  Nuremberg,  and  Peter 
Vischer,  whose  magnificent  bronze  tomb  of  St.  Sebaldus  is 
in  the  church  of  the  same  name,  also  at  Nuremberg.  Out- 
side of  Nuremberg  the  most  important  works  of  German 
Renaissance  sculpture  are  at  Innspruck,  where  the  tomb 


Fig.  150.— Figures  from  the  Reliefs  of  the  "  Foun 
tain  of  the  Innocents."     Paris.     By  Jean 
Goujon.    Middle  of  Sixteenth  Century. 


Fig.  151.— Mary  of  Burgundy  (wife  of  Emperor  Maximilian).    From  the  series  of 
Bronze  Statues  belonging  to  Maximilian's  Monumental  Tomb  at 
Innspruck.   By  Gilg.   Early  Sixteenth  Century. 


232  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


of  the  Emperor  Maximilian  fills  an  entire  church  with  the 
bronze  figures  of  his  ancestors  and  of  the  legendary  heroes 
of  medieval  history.  Many  German  sculptors  were  em- 
ployed on  this  colossal  monument  whose  execution  was  in 
process  during  the  whole  sixteenth  century.  One  of  the 
statues  illustrated  was  probably  a  work  by  Peter  Vischer. 
For  the  later  sculpture  of  Renaissance  Europe  down  to 

the  middle  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  I  have 
selected  five  examples, 
not  suggesting  that 
anything  but  the  broad- 
est facts  are  indicated 
by  them.  One  of  the 
latest  of  these,  being 
the  most  obviously  ex- 
aggerated and  over- 
strained conception, 
may  be  first  considered 
(Fig.^  157). 

It  is  a  general  rule 
of  art  criticism — first 
distinctly  formulated 
and  explained  by  the 
German  critic  Lessing, 
in  his  ' '  Essay  on  Lao- 
coon" — that  a  work 
of  art  should  not  ex- 
haust its  subject  or  so 
treat  it  that  the  ex- 
treme and  ultimate 
pitch  of  emotion  is  made  visible  to  the  eye. 

Moments  of  extreme  tension  are  not  lasting  in  their 


Peter 


Fig.  152. — King  Arthur.     Bronze ;  by 
Vischer.    From  the  Maximilian  Monument 
at  Innspruck.   Early  Sixteenth  Century. 


Renaissance  Sculpture. 


233 


nature,  and  when  perpetuated  in  solid  form  they  finally 
become  tedious;  for  the  double  reason  that  they  present  a 
contradiction  between  the  momentary  duration  in  nature 
and  the  permanence  in  art,  and  for  the  reason  that  in  ex- 


FiG.  153. — Wood-carved  Confessionals  at  Antwerp.    Church  of  St.  Paul. 
Late  Sixteenth  Century. 

hausting  the  subject  they  leave  nothing  to  the  imagination. 

In  the  myth  of  Prometheus,  for  instance,  we  are  told  the 
story  of  a  perpetual  torture,  but  there  is  no  existing  Greek 
statue  of  this  subject,  nor  would  any  resembling  our  illus- 
tration have  been  possible  for  Greek  views  of  art.  The 
given  statue  violates  every  rule  of  good  taste,  according  to 
our  present  training  in  criticism.  It  is  vulgar,  theatrical, 
tawdry,  and  weak;  but  this  is  the  style  of  sculpture  which 
ruled  Europe  down  to  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
as  an  inheritance  from  the  seventeenth  century — and  this 


234  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


again  had  been  led  toward  the  downward  road  through  the 
influence  of  the  later  sixteenth  century. 

From  Michael  Angelo  on  we  become  aware  of  an  ever- 
increasing  straining  of  attitudes,  an  ever-increasing  choice 
of  theatrical  motives  and  sentimental  subjects.  The  great 
master  of  this  style  was  the  seventeenth  century  Italian, 
Bernini,  a  man  of  great  genius  and  great  science,  but  a 
thorough  man  of  his  time;  that  is  to  say,  absolutely  desti- 
tute of  the  sentiment  of  the  statuesque. 

Let  us  also  choose  our  next  illustration  from  the  eighteenth 

century,  and  consider 
its  lessons  (Fig.  156). 

It  is  a  fundamental 
rule  of  art  that  its  tools 
are  means  to  an  end. 
Whatever  exalts  the 
instrument  belittles  the 
aim.  Hence  works  of 
art  which  are  made  for 
the  sake  of  conquering 
those  difficulties  which 
affect  the  use  of  tools 
have  no  real  cause  of 
being. 

In  our  given  illus- 
tration from  a  work  in 
Naples,  the  subject  was 
chosen  because  it  gave 

Fig.  154.— iEneas  and  Anchises,  by   Bernini,   the  SCulptor  an  Oppor- 
Borghese  Villa,  Rome.  Seventeenth  Century.      ^^^j^^        making  a  net 

in  marble — an  exceedingly  difficult  thing  to  do,  but  not 
worth  doing.  Probably  this  group  offers  the  most  remark- 
able example  in  statuary  of  the  conquest  of  a  technical 


Fig.  155.— Pulpit  of  the  Brussels  Cathedral.    Wood-carving  by  Verbruggen, 
about  1700.   The  Expulsion  from  Paradise. 


236  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


difficulty,  yet  we  feel  that  the  entire  subject  has  been 
manufactured  in  order  to  create  this  difficulty.  As  re- 
gards the  ostensible  subject  matter,  an  allegory  repre- 
senting the  ' '  Escape  from  Error, ' '  it  does  not  touch  either 

our  interests,  our  sym- 
pathies, or  our  con- 
victions. Its  only 
possible  claim  to  in- 
terest is  the  dexterity 
displayed  in  the  use  of 
a  chisel,  and  in  artistic 
value  it  is  comparable 
to  the  Chinese  carvings 
of  ivory  balls,  con- 
tained one  within  the 
other. 

This  work,  then, 
may  once  more  illus- 
trate a  general  defect 
of  taste  in  statuary  in 
the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries, 

Fig.  i56.-The  Escape  from  Error,  by  Queirolo.    the  tendency   tO  CXalt 
Naples.    Eighteenth  Century.  ^j^^   mcchauics    of  art 

while  serious  thought  and  conception  were  deficient. 

In  our  illustration  from  the  Cathedral  of  Brussels  we  have 
an  indication  of  the  prodigality  and  luxury  of  sculpture 
decoration  in  the  important  Catholic  churches  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  (Fig.  155).  It  was  a  time  when  the  multi- 
plication of  statues  and  carvings  had  no  end;  in  many  cases, 
as  here  in  the  case  of  the  pulpit,  extorting  our  admiration 
in  spite  of  our  better  judgment;  or,  as  also  here,  with  re- 
deeming traits  when  we  consider  the  material  used — for  we 


Fig,  157.— Prometheus,  by  Adam.   Louvre.   Eighteenth  Century. 


238  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


cannot  ask  of  wood  carving  the  severity  and  simplicity 
which  are  demanded  by  the  intractabiHty,  weight,  and 
hardness  of  stone.  We  could  not  say  that  the  Fall  of 
Man  has  been  seriously  conceived  in  this  pulpit,  or  that 
clouds  and  drapery  hangings  are  a  proper  matter  even  for 
wood  carving,  and  still  the  ingenuity  and  thought  with 
which  the  subject  has  been  wrought  out  stand  for  a  great 
deal. 

Conceding  much  merit  and  interest  to  this  work,  we 
shall  also  conclude  from  it  and  from  its  surroundings  that 
the  pompous  display  of  material  wealth  in  art  was  a  ruling 

trait  of  the  time.  The 
affected  style  and  at- 
titudes of  the  statues 
on  the  adjacent  col- 
umns of  the  church  are 
characteristic  for  the 
whole  Renaissance 
sculpture  of  the  seven- 
teenth century. 

Finally  we  have  an 
illustration  (Fig.  154) 
to  represent  the  ex- 
istence of  the  artist, 
viz.,  Bernini,  who  of 
all  men  of  his  cen- 
tury combined  the 
greatest  genius  and 
talent  with  the  most 
pronounced  display  of 
the  traits  we  have  enumerated,  over-wrought  or  compli- 
cated subjects,  the  substitution  of  mechanical  dexterity  for 
thought,  and  the  exaltation  of  costly  material  at  the  ex- 


FiG.  158.— Statue  of  Louis  XV.,  by  Nicolas 
Coustou.  Louvre. 


Renaissance  Sculpture, 


239 


pense  of  subject  matter.  Bernini  was  also  a  decorator  and 
architect  of  distinction,  the  designer  of  the  colonnade  sur- 
rounding the  large  oval  place  in  front  of  St.  Peter's,  of  its 
interior  colossal  bronze  shrine,  and  of  many  churches. 

The  whole  later  Renaissance  was  at  its  best  in  portrait 
sculpture,  especially  of  busts.  Both  French  and  Italian 
sculptors  were  eminent  in  this  specialty.  Puget  was  the 
greatest  French  sculptor  of  this  era,  the  age  of  Louis  XIV., 
who  himself  employed  Bernini  in  Paris  while  Puget  was  also 
active  in  Italy  and  at  Rome. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  portrait  sculpture  of  the  late  Re- 
naissance and  of  the  eighteenth  century,  I  have  chosen  a 
statue  of  the  French  king,  Louis  XV. ,  whose  pose.^hibits 
the  theatrical  quality  characteristic  of  the  tirne.  — — ^ 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 


THE  GREEK    REVIVAL    OF    THE    EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 

According  to  our  account  so  far,  throughout  this  whole 
book,  either  of  architecture,  painting,  or  sculpture,  it  will 
appear  that  the  earlier  eighteenth  century  represents  the 
foot  of  a  hill  whose  gradual  descent  began  about  1530. 

We  shall  not,  however,  be  entirely  just  to  our  subject 
without  remarking  that  to  the  simile  of  decline,  which  has 
been  used  above,  we  must  add  one  which  indicates  an  ever 
widening  expansion  of  Italian  culture  and  of  the  original 
force  and  attainments  of  early  modern  Italian  civilization; 
an  expansion  which  would  justify  and  explain  a  gradual  loss 
of  original  quality  and  strength  as  far  as  exterior  and 
borrowed  forms  of  art  are  concerned.  Such  a  simile  may 
be  found  in  those  expanding  circles  of  waves  or  ripples 
which  we  notice  when  a  stone  has  been  thrown  into  a 
pool  of  water.  Corresponding  to  the  suggestions  of  this 
simile,  we  find  the  civilization  of  Russia  or  of  Scandinavia 
beginning  to  show  more  modern  tendencies  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century  and  that  England  and  Prussia  became  the 
most  powerful  and  active  factors  in  its  political  history, 
as  compared  with  an  earlier  political  inferiority  to  the 
Netherlands,  Spain,  and  France,  which  in  their  turn  had 
been  the  superiors  of  seventeenth  century  Italy,  although 
originally  borrowers  from  her  greatness.  It  is  undoubtedly 
from  this  point  of  view  that  we  must  explain  the  great 
perfection  of  English  painting  in  the  eighteenth  century; 
the  time  of  Wilson  in  landscape,  of  Gainsborough  and 

240 


Fig.  159.— Portrait  of  Col.  Epes  Sargent,  by  John  Singleton  Copley.  Photo- 
graphed for  this  work  at  the  Columbian  Exposition,  by  permission 
of  Mrs.  George  H.  Clements. 


2^2 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


Reynolds,  Lawrence  and  Romney  in  portraits,  of  Hogarth 
in  caricature,  of  George  Morland  in  farm  scenes  and  the 
like,  as  compared  with  earlier  English  obscurity  in  the 
matter  of  great  painters  (p.  i8i).  So  again  it  is  at  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century  that  we  find  the  dawning 
genius  of  early  American  painters,  like  Copley  and  Gil- 
bert Stuart,  again  in  dependence  on  an  inspiration  and 
style  of  earlier  English  origin.  The  revival  of  art  in 
England  belongs,  however,  to  a  time,  that  of  the  later 
eighteenth  century,  when  northern  Europe  in  general  was 
beginning  to  assert  its  independence  of  Italian  Renaissance 
influences  in  a  way  which  I  must  now  describe.  The 
sketch  of  the  later  course  of  the  history  of  art,  after  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  moves  properly  from  the 
history  of  Renaissance  sculpture  as  just  concluded  in  my 
last  chapter,  because  it  was  in  sculpture  that  the  art  de- 
cadence of  the  early  eighteenth  century  was  most  clearly 
visible,  and  because  it  was  in  the  study  of  ancient  Greek 
sculpture  as  contrasted  with  this  decadence  that  modern 
art  began  its  new  career. 

Sculpture  had  been  the  art  in  which  decadence  was  most 
apparent  because  the  picturesque  and  sentimental  tastes  of 
the  later  Renaissance  were  least  adapted  to  its  proper 
conditions  of  dignity  and  repose.  Architecture  was  re- 
strained by  its  dimensions  and  serious  practical  problems 
from  sinning  invariably  as  it  did  frequently,  but  we  have 
given  examples  of  its  mistakes  of  profusion  of  ornament, 
and  of  lack  of  sense  for  construction  (Fig.  51  and  pp.  97- 
102). 

We  have  also  found  that  the  seventeenth  century  pro- 
duced its  greatest  school  of  painting  in  a  country  (Hol- 
land) whose  religion,  location,  and  history  were  most 
remote  to  that  of  Renaissance  Italy.    Still,  Renaissance 


The  Greek  Revival  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  243 


painting  was  the  art  which  held  to  its  best  for  the  longest 
time  and  which  never  entirely  sacrificed  its  greatness.  Its 
ascendency  and  relative  perfection  as  compared  with  later 
Renaissance  architecture  and  sculpture  are  marked,  and  we 
should  not  be  far  from  the  heart  of  the  matter  in  saying 
that  the  defects  of  thesfe  arts  for  the  given  time  were  largely 
due  to  a  pictorial  influence  and  tendency  not  befitting  their 
necessary  dignity. 

If  we  should  go  still  deeper  in  attempting  to  explain 
the  gradual  decline  of  art,  it  would  be  by  saying  that  the 
intellectual  inspiration  of  the  Renaissance  had  exhausted  its 
subject  matter.  Italy  had  risen  from  the  study  of  Roman 
history  and  Latin  literature  to  greatness,  but  in  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century  Europe  had  subsisted  on  the  fruits 
of  Italian  thought  and  energy  for  at  least  two  hundred 
years.  A  new  force  and  a  new  center  of  activity,  new 
thoughts  and  new  interests  were  needed. 

In  the  history  of  governments  we  see  how  the  system 
of  early  modern  history  had  grown  decrepit  and  weak, 
how  the  despotic  monarchies  of  the  eighteenth  century  had 
lost  their  former  hold  on  popular  favor  and  support.  Just 
as  the  French  Revolution  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century  was  an  explosion  of  protest  against  a  fossil  stage  of 
government,  so  the  intellectual  thought  of  Europe  had  its 
revival  just  preceding,  which  in  fact  resulted  in  this  political 
explosion. 

The  turning  point  in  the  history  of  Renaissance  and 
modern  art  is  the  revolution  in  taste  caused  by  the  revived 
study  of  Greek  literature  after  1750.  We  have  seen  that 
the  Greek  men  of  letters,  driven  into  Italy  by  the  Turkish 
conquest  of  the  Byzantine  Empire  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
spread  and  cultivated  the  study  of  Greek  in  Italy.  But 
these  studies  were  crippled  by  the  social  and  political  dis- 


244  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


asters  which  came  to  notice  in  our  account  of  Michael 
Angelo  (p.  223)  and  of  the  decHne  of  the  historic  Renais- 
sance (p.  37). 

The  older  social  aristocracies  of  Italy  which  had  culti- 
vated these  studies  were  now  ruined  and  dispersed.  The 
Catholic  Church  Reformation,  which  accompanied  the 
Protestant  reform,  took  alarm  at  the  pagan  and  infidel 
tendencies  which  the  intellectual  worship  of  paganism  was 
supposed  to  have  caused,  and  it  was  in  the  Greek  circles  of 
Italy  that  these  tendencies  had  been  manifest. 

To  the  changed  attitude  of  the  Roman  Church  was 
added  a  still  more  important  cause — the  natural  tastes  and 
predispositions  of  the  mass  of  Italians  in  favor  of  Latin, 
and  the  ease  with  which  they  could  learn  it,  through  its 
connection  with  their  own  tongue.  To  these  various  causes 
we  may  attribute  the  decline  in  the  estimation  of  the 
Greek  authors  and  the  general  indifference  to  them  which 
became  the  rule  throughout  Europe. 

In  spite  of  exceptions  and  some  apparent  contradictions, 
Greek  studies  were  mainly  ignored  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury and  during  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  At 
this  time  there  was  only  one  university  in  Germany  having 
a  professorship  in  Greek — the  University  of  Gottingen. 

The  father  of  the  Greek  Revival,  John  Winckelmann, 
who  was  in  early  life  too  poor  to  buy  many  books,  had  not 
been  able  up  to  the  time  when  he  was  thirty  years  old 
even  to  borrow  a  copy  of  Sophocles.  No  edition  of  Plato 
had  been  published  in  Europe  at  this  time  since  the  year 
1602.  No  Greek  authors  had  been  published  in  Germany 
for  one  hundred  and  fifty  years.  No  school  books  for 
the  study  of  Greek  were  available  when  Winckelmann, 
as  schoolmaster  at  Seehausen,  introduced  the  study  of 
Greek  into  his  school.    He  was  obliged  to  write  out  texts 


The  Greek  Revival  of  the  Eighteenth  Century.  245 


for  his  scholars — these  manuscripts  are  still  in  existence. 

Leading  French  critics  did  not  hesitate  to  ridicule  the 
Greeks.  One  of  them  (P^rrault)  compared  Homer  to  the 
ballads  of  the  street  singers  of  Paris,  Voltaire  declared 
the  ^neid  to  be  superior  to  all  the  Greek  authors  taken 
together.  Such  were  the  general  results  of  the  attitude  of 
the  later  Renaissance  and  of  its  enthusiasm  for  Roman 
antiquity  and  Latin  literature.  The  neglect  of  Greek  may 
possibly  be  less  apparent  in  England,  which  country  was 
most  exterior  to  the  influence  of  the  later  Renaissance  and 
its  prejudices,  but  Macaulay  has  contributed  valuable  hints 
on  this  matter  of  English  neglect  of  Greek,  in  his  essay  on 
Addison.* 

All  this  was  changed  by  the  epoch-making  life  of  Winck- 
elmann,  who  rose  from  a  position  of  extreme  poverty  and 
obscurity  to  be  the  leading  antiquarian  and  art  critic  of 
Europe.  It  was  not  till  the  year  1755,  when  he  began 
his  residence  at  Rome  that  any  indication  of  this  distinction 
became  apparent,  and  he  had  already  reached  the  age  of 
thirty-eight.  In  the  following  thirteen  years  he  did  work 
which  revolutionized  the  taste  and  art  of  Europe. 

It  was  a  time  before  the  foundation  of  the  later  museums 
of  the  North  and  when  the  antique  statues  were  almost 
exclusively  confined  to  Rome.  Here  they  were  supposed 
to  be  works  representing  Roman  history  and  civilization 
and  explaining  Latin  literature.  Strange  as  it  may  seem, 
Winckelmann's  announcement  of  the  existence  of  a  Greek 
art  as  perpetuated  by  Roman  copies  was  a  complete 
revelation  to  his  age,  which  was  quite  ignorant  of  the 
originals  subsequently  brought  from  Greece  to  northern 

*The  most  important  authority  is  the  German  author  Carl  Justi,  "Das  Leben 
Winckelmannes."  For  the  ultimate  Renaissance  neglect  of  Greek  studies  in  Italy, 
see  also  Jacob  Burckhardt's  "  Civilization  of  the  Renaissance  in  Italy." 


246 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


Europe  like  the  Parthenon  marbles  of  the  British  Museum. 

This  announcement  was  not  made  suddenly  or  ostenta- 
tiously, but  by  a  series  of  reversals  of  interpretations  of  the 
ancient  statues  in  Rome,  which  had  been  given  interpreta- 
tions based  on  Latin  literature  and  Roman  history. 

To  this  reversal  of  the  older  Italian  interpretations  of 
the  statues  Winckelmann  added  a  new  point  of  view  in  their 
criticism.  In  the  early  Renaissance  it  had  been  the  real- 
istic study  of  natural  form  which  had  interested  the  Italian. 

The  ancient  statues 
which  the  Italian  es- 
pecially admired  were 
those  few  in  which  the 
anatomic  details  were 
most  exaggerated. 
These  were  shown  by 
Winckelmann  to  be 
works  of  the  Greek 
decadence. 

On  the  other  hand, 
the  taste  of  the  eigh- 
teenth and  seventeenth 
centuries  for  exagger- 
ated, ostentatious,  and 
theatrical  art  had  en- 
tirely overlooked  the 
virtues  of  repose  and 
simplicity  in  the  works 
which  Winckelmann  now  proved  to  be  simply  Roman 
copies  of  lost  Greek  originals.  Still  farther  he  specified 
the  various  historic  styles  within  the  limits  of  Greek  art 
and  gave  their  proper  rank  to  the  conceptions  of  the  fifth 
century  before  Christ,  the  period  of  Phidias. 


Fig.  160. — Ganymede,  by  Thorwaldsen. 
Copenhagen. 


The  Greek  Revival  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  247 


These  points  were  first  made  known  to  the  world  in 
Winckelmann's  History  of  Art,  pubhshed  in  1764.  The 
effect  of  this  pubHcation  was  electrical.  In  proving  the 
Roman  statues  to  be  copies  of  Greek  originals  a  new 
conception  was  involved  of  the  general  origin  of  Roman 
civilization  and  Latin 
literature.  It  was  no 
longer  possible  to  es- 
teem the  Latin  authors 
above  the  Greeks  when 
these  were  seen  to  have 
been  the  models  fol- 
lowed by  the  Romans. 

Thus  the  study  of 
ancient  sculpture  re- 
acted on  the  study  of 
ancient  literature.  The 
Greek  authors  sud- 
denly became  fashion- 
able. The  impulse  thus 
given  by  Winckelmann 
was  aided  by  Lessing, 
who  published,  in 

1766,    his      Essay   on   Fig.  161— Detail  from  the  Perseus,  by  Canova. 

Laocoon/^  critically 

establishing  the  superiority  of  Homer  and  lowering  the 
position  which  had  been  awarded  the  French  critics  and 
dramatists  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

Now  came  the  influence,  first  on  Germany,  and  then  on  all 
Europe,  of  the  German  poets  Goethe  and  Schiller  and  their 
followers,  who  stood  on  the  platform  established  by  Winck- 
elmann and  Lessing  and  owed  their  own  greatness  to  the 
\nspiration  drawn  from  the  Greek  literature.    The  whole  of 


248  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


Europe  was  now  permeated  by  a  new  antique  fever  re- 
sembling the  Renaissance  and  known  as  the  Greek  Re- 
vival, or  Philhellenic  movement. 

The  influence  on  modern  art  was  phenomenal.  Even  in 
clocks  and  furniture  no  style  of  design  was  now  tolerated 
but  imitation  of  the  Greeks.  The  Renaissance  style  of 
architecture  was  combated  by  another  which  appealed  to 
the  constructional  principles  of  the  Greek  temples  as  con- 
trasted with  the  ornamental  and  unstructural  use  of  Greek 


where  copied  and  applied  to  modern  buildings.  Many 
were  even  made  in  direct  imitation  of  the  shape  of  the 
Greek  temples,  as  numerous  churches  and  public  buildings 
still  attest. 

By  the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  Greek 
Revival  was  the  most  pronounced  feature  of  European 
history.  Even  politics  showed  this  influence  and  the 
revolutions  in  both  France  and  America  were  largely  in- 


forms borrowed  by 
Italy  from  the  Romans. 


Fig.  162.— The  Angel  of  Death.    Detail  of  the 
Tomb  of  Clement  XIII.  in  St.  Peter's. 
By  Canova. 


In  practice  the  two 
styles  were,  however, 
frequently  amalga- 
mated, for  not  all 
architects  were  capable 
of  sharing  the  literary 
enthusiasms  of  the  new 
movement.  Still  a 
pronounced  simplicity 
in  architectural  forms 
was  a  feature  of  the 
Greek  Revival,  and  the 
Greek  porticoes  and 
colonnades  were  every- 


The  Greek  Revival  of  the  Eighteenth  Century.  249 


spired  by  an  ideal  of  republican  institutions  drawn  from 
the  study  of  Plutarch's  ''Lives,"  which  was  the  most 
popular  book  of  the  time.  In  ladies'  dress  the  style  now 
known  as  that  of  the  ' '  Directory, ' '  and  represented  by  the 
short-waisted  ladies'  dress  of  the  time  of  the  American 
Revolution,  came  into  vogue  as  a  copy  of  Greek  simplicity. 
In  music  the  subjects  of  Gluck's  Operas  are  a  reminder  of 
the  same  enthusiasms. 

In  statuary  the  same  movement  was  equally  visible. 
The  theatrical  and  sentimental  style  of  sculpture  was  aban- 
doned and  a  new  one  was  founded,  based  upon  an  external 
imitation  of  Greek  art.  In  this  taste  the  Italian  Canova 
and  the  Dane  Thorwaldsen,  long  resident  at  Rome,  were 
the  first  and  most  prominent  lights,  and  the  imitation  of  the 
Greeks  in  sculpture  is  only  in  recent  years  beginning  to 
yield  to  a  more  original  and  truly  modern  style.  In  this 
recent  movement  the  sculptors  of  the  United  States  are 
among  the  foremost,  and  taken  in  mass  have  probably 
achieved  the  best  results  of  modern  sculpture. 

In  painting  the  classical  spirit  also  showed  itself,  and 
its  first  leading  light  was  the  Frenchman  David,  a  con- 
temporary of  the  French  Revolution  and  of  the  times  of 
Bonaparte.  In  this  art,  however,  the  first  and  most  obvi- 
ous result  of  the  Greek  Revival  was  a  return  of  appreciation 
for  the  period  of  Raphael,  whose  virtues  of  repose  and 
simplicity  were  parallel  in  painting  to  the  same  qualities 
of  the  Greek  sculpture.  In  other  words,  the  results  in 
painting  were  more  apparent  in  a  changed  standard  of 
appreciation  toward  old  Italian  art  than  in  a  new  style  of 
modern  painting. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


ARCHITECTURE  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 

The  period  of  the  Greek  Revival,  which  continued  in  full 
vigor  through  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
was  subsequently  antagonized  and  partially  displaced  by  a 
new  movement  of  historic  studies  and  literary  tastes  which 
turned  once  more  to  the  appreciation  of  the  Middle  Age. 

The  prejudice  against  the  art  and  culture  of  the  Middle 
Age,  which  had  coined  the  word  ' '  Gothic, ' '  was  of  Italian 
origin — as  we  have  seen  (p.  56).  No  stronger  illustration 
could  be  given  of  the  duration  and  ascendency  throughout 
Europe  of  the  Renaissance  than  the  contempt  for  the  old 
cathedrals,  which  lasted  till  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. 

The  Greek  Revival  continued  to  hold  this  attitude  of  in- 
difference and  contempt,  but  it  developed,  as  we  have  seen, 
a  new  school  of  German  literature.  In  the  great  revolt  of 
Germany  against  the  ascendency  of  Bonaparte,  which 
marked  the  first  fifteen  years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  a 
feeling  of  national  patriotism,  cultivated  by  this  literature 
and  by  this  revolt,  began  to  rise  superior  to  the  jealousies 
which  had  so  far  divided  and  estranged  the  petty  states  and 
principalities  of  Germany.  Proud  of  their  own  great 
authors,  musical  composers,  and  men  of  science,  the 
Germans  turned  to  the  study  of  their  own  past,  and  the 
greatness  of  this  past  was  found  to  lie  in  the  period  when 
all  Europe  had  been  Germanized  and  conquered  by  Ger- 
mans— when  the  feudal  system  had  developed  from  Ger- 

25Q 


Architecture  of  the  Nineteenth  Century.  251 


manic  institutions;  when  Charlemagne  had  reconsolidated 
Europe;  when  the  Saxon,  Franconian,  and  Hohenstaufen 
emperors  had  been  the  leaders  of  their  day;  when  the 
League  of  the  Hansa  had  created  the  commerce  and 
fostered  the  industries  of  northeastern  Europe. 

Thus  the  German  became  the  first  historic  student  of  the 
long  despised  period  of  the  Middle  Ages.  The  Greek 
Revival  had  given  him  the  consciousness  of  national  exist- 
ence through  its  influence  on  the  creation  of  a  national 
literature.  This  literature  then  turned  the  thoughts  of  the 
people  to  the  study  of  their  own  history  and  their  own 
past. 

The  Gothic  Revival  was  thus  as  a  literary  and  historic 
study  gathering  force  in  Germany  through  the  first  quarter 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  Then  it  burst  its  national 
barriers  and  spread  through  Europe.  France  and  Eng- 
land, no  less  than  Germany,  turned  attention  to  their  own 
medieval  past.  This  movement  is  especially  represented 
for  England  by  the  romances  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  which 
were  the  first  works  of  English  literature  to  draw  attention 
to  the  Middle  Ages. 

All  this  reacted  on  the  exterior  forms  of  modern  art. 
The  cathedrals  which  the  ^'Spectator"  of  Addison  had 
held  up  to  ridicule,  which  the  cultivated  Evelyn  had  stigma- 
tized as  "only  Gothic,"*  which  Winckelmann  had  con- 
sidered unworthy  of  notice,  and  which  even  Lessing  had 
neglected,  were  now  exalted  at  the  expense  of  Roman 
buildings  and  Greek  temples  as  the  models  of  all  modern 
architectural  forms. 

Meantime  both  Renaissance  and  Greek  details  continued 
to  hold  their  own  in  that  traditional  use  which  did  not 
readily  yield  to  the  new  crusade  of  the  historians  and  men 

*  See  Evelyn's  "Diary,"  time  of  Charles  II.  of  England. 


252  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


of  letters.  The  field  of  church  architecture,  at  least,  how- 
ever, was  fully  conquered  by  the  Gothic.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  specify  a  church  built  in  Europe  or  America 
about  or  after  1850  which  did  not  exhibit  the  Gothic  style. 

To  this  style  succeeded  copies  of  the  Romanesque*  and 
Italian  Gothic.    The  Romanesque,  as  being  earlier  than 

Gothic,  and  the  Italian 


Gothic,  as  more  re- 
mote from  the  first 
modern  students  of 
the  Gothic  in  northern 
Europe,  had  at  first  at- 
tracted less  attention. 
As  the  knowledge  of 
medieval  architecture 
became  wider  and  more 
general,  these  remoter 
or  earlier  styles  were 
also  drawn  upon  as 
models  for  copy. 

Meantime  the  at- 
tention of  historic 
students   and  critics 


Fig.  163— Houses  of  Parliament,  London.         VCCrcd    from    an  CU- 
By  Barry.   Gothic  Revival.  thusiastic  admiration 

for  the  beauty  of  the  old  monuments  to  a  critical  appreci- 
ation of  their  common  sense  in  construction.  This  appre- 
ciation again  naturally  called  attention  to  the  new  problems 
of  construction  in  modern  architecture  and  the  inadvisa- 
bility  of  thrusting  a  common-sense  ancient  mode  of 
construction  on  a  modern  building  with  different  require- 
ments and  character. 

♦  Compare  "  Roman  and  Medieval  Art." 


Architecture  of  the  Nineteenth  Century, 


253 


This  new  point  of  view  was  much  assisted  by  the  Decora- 
tive Art  movement  which  gradually  developed  in  England 
after  the  Crystal  Palace  Exposition  of  1851.  The  leading 
idea  of  this  movement  under  its  original  leaders  was  to 
make  ornament  the  emphasis  and  exponent  of  construction. 
This  idea  had  again  been  evolved  principally  from  the  study 
of  the  Gothic,  but  was  seen  to  be  equally  supported  by  the 
principles  of  the  original  Greek  monuments. 

Whereas  the  Greek  Revival  had  insisted  on  the  construc- 
tional use  of  Greek  forms  as  against  the  Renaissance,  but 
had  continued  to  regard  the  classic  details  as  the  exclusive 
models  of  imitation,  the  ultimate  outcome  of  the  Gothic 
revival  was  the  tendency  to  abjure  any  use  of  historic  style 
of  any  period  which  did  not  harmonize  with  the  common- 
sense  uses  and  purposes  of  the  modern  time.  But  it  was 
difficult  and  impossible  to  create  a  modern  style  out  of 
nothing,  with  no  antecedents  and  no  traditions.  Such  an 
out-and-out  original  creation  was  never  known  to  history 
where  evolution  has  always  been  the  mode  of  change. 

In  this  dilemma  between  the  theories  of  the  professors, 
who  taught  that  constructive  truth  was  the  only  standard  of 
taste  as  applied  to  form,  and  the  habits  of  the  modern 
architect,  who  had  never  since  1500  done  anything  but 
borrow  his  details  from  historic  styles — the  ' '  Italian  Gothic" 
and  ' '  Romanesque, ' '  for  the  time  being,  offered  an  obvious 
compromise.  Both  were  styles  in  which  the  effects  of 
masonry  surface  had  been  undisturbed  by  projecting  but- 
tresses or  projecting  ''engaged  columns."  As  far  as 
masonry  construction  was  concerned,  here  were  styles,  so- 
called,  which  were  adapted  to  any  modern  building.  The 
decorative  details  were  medieval,  instead  of  classic — this 
was  a  matter  of  indifference  or  of  personal  taste  as  long  as 
they  were  not  allowed  to  determine  constructional  forms. 


254  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


In  modern  ''Italian  Gothic"  and  "Romanesque"  we 
have  had  a  compromise  between  the  general  dependence 
of  modern  architecture  on  past  models,  and  the  reaction 
against  the  purely  literary  and  archaeologic  imitation  of 

Gothic  cathedrals,  or 
the  expensive  and  gen- 
erally worn-out  forms 
of  the  traditional  Re- 
naissance, or  the  ex- 
pensive and  frequently 
unnecessary  colon- 
nades of  the  Greeks. 

Side  by  side  with  this 
movement  and  slightly 
later  in  time  came  the 
so-called  '  'Queen 
Anne"  and  "Colonial" 
styles,  which  were  es- 
pecially applied  to 
country  houses  and 
suburban  residences, 
whereas  the  Italian 
Gothic  and  Roman- 
esque, as  exclusively 
masonry  and  not  timber  styles,  had  been  more  confined 
to  the  cities. 

In  these  last  revivals  we  see  partly  the  swinging  back  of 
the  pendulum  toward  the  Renaissance  under  which  ' '  Colo- 
nial" and  "Queen  Anne"  must  be  included,  but  Re- 
naissance of  a  simpler  class,  less  pretentious,  and  with 
details  of  greater  beauty  than  had  survived  in  the  purely 
traditional  forms  of  brownstone  fronts  and  American  gov- 
ernment buildings.    Recurrence  to  our  remarks  on  Dutch 


Fig.  164.— Courthouse  and  Jail  of  Pittsburg. 
By  H.  H.  Richardson.  Romanesque 
Revival. 


Architecture  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,  255 


buildings  of  the  seventeenth  century  will  assist  this  explana- 
tion (p.  104).  Otherwise,  ^'Queen  Anne"  and  ''Colonial" 
may  be  explained  as  an  appreciation  of  fashion  for  the  pictur- 
esque and  common-sense  construction  of  the  given  periods, 
and  both  styles,  so-called,  as  well  as  Italian  Gothic  and 
Romanesque,  have  been  convenient  cloaks  for  architects  in- 
tent on  solving  modern  problems  in  their  own  way — without 
caring  to  make  martyrs  of  themselves  by  explaining  to 
their  patrons  that  it  makes  very  little  difference  what  old 
name  may  be  given  a  modern  building.  In  all  these  vary- 
ing currents  and  eddies  of  the  hour,  we  can  still  see  in  our 
own  country  the  steady  movement  of  a  great  nation  toward 
the  assertion  of  its  own  needs  and  character  and  the  reali- 
zation of  its  own  opportunities. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 


SCULPTURE  IN  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


Of  all  arts  of  the  nineteenth  century,  sculpture  is  the 
one  which  longest  retained  and  exhibited  the  influences 
dating  from  the  later  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Only 

in  quite  recent  years 
has  it  begun  to  shake 
off  the  imitative  quality 
which  the  Greek  Re- 
vival had  stamped  upon 
it.  The  reasons  for 
this  are  obvious.  The 
pre-eminence  of  the 
Greeks  in  sculpture  is 
so  unquestioned  and 
the  fame  of  their  works 
so  great,  that  all  later 
art  must  bow  before  it. 
When  the  influences  of 
literary  fashion  and 
historic  interest  were 
added  to  the  weight  of 
the  technical  superi- 
ority and  artistic  value, 
the  inevitable  result,  for 
the  time  being,  was 
imitation.    This  im- 


FiG.  165.— Teucer,  by  Hamo  Thornycroft.  (See 
Fig.  169.)    Photographed,  by  permission,  for 
this  work,  at  the  Columbian  Exposition. 


itation  being  the  rage  in  general,  the  art  in  which  the 
Greek  was  most  admired  experienced   the  result  most 

256 


Sculpture  in  the  NiJieteenth  Century,  257 


sensibly.  Thus,  to  the  period  of  Thorwaldsen,  the  im- 
itation of  Greek  sculpture  appeared  to  be  a  necessary 
consequence  of  its  admitted  superiority.  The  modern 
copyists  overlooked,  however,  the  point  that  the  Greeks 
had  not  reached  their 
greatness  in  sculpture 
by  studying  statues. 
Although  they  had 
idealized  nature,  they 
had  always  based  their 
art  upon  it.  One  de- 
fect of  the  Greek  Re- 
viva  1  statuary  was , 
consequently,  a  cold 
and  formal  quality — 
resulting  from  the  habit 
of  studying  statues  as 
distinct  from  the  study 
of  living  nature.  It 
should  be  added,  too, 
that  little  was  known  in 
the  late  eighteenth  and 
early  nineteenth  cen- 
turies of  the  vigor  and 
life  of  original  Greek  art.  The  models  followed  had  been 
mainly  those  of  the  Roman  period.  It  was  not  till  the 
year  1816  that  the  British  government  agreed  to  purchase 
the  Elgin  Marbles,  although  they  had  then  been  in  London 
for  nine  years. 

After  the  time  of  Canova  the  Italian  sculpture  sank  into 
insignificance.  The  Greek  School  was  meantime  headed 
for  northern  Europe  by  the  names  of  the  English  John 
Gibson  and  the  German  Dannecker.    In  both  these  artists 


Fig,  166.— Bronze  Equestrian  Statue  of  Frederick 
the  Great.    By  Rauch.    Berlin  (1851). 


258  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


we  notice  the  deficiency  of  vigorous  modeling  peculiar  to 
the  imitative  Greek  School,  Canova  and  Thorwaldsen  in- 
cluded. The  lack  of  differentiation  in  execution  between 
details  and  bodily  forms  was  also  a  weakness — a  weakness 
never  found  in  the  antique  art  which  was  supposed  to  be 
imitated.  An  over-delicate  finish  of  surface  and  refine- 
ment in  representing  textures  have  not  been  confined  to  the 
Greek  Revival,  and  still  impair  the  value  of  a  great  deal 
of  more  recent  sculpture,  but  this  deficiency  appears  most 
objectionable  when  the  pretense  of  idealism  is  suggested. 
We  must  concede,  on  the  other  hand,  to  the  modern  Greek 
Revival,  nobility  of  purpose,  refinement  of  thought,  and  an 
absence  of  those  glaring  offenses  to  good  taste  in  the  way 
of  extravagant  and  pretentious  poses  and  conceptions  which 

had  been  the  almost 
universal  rule  in  late 
Renaissance  sculpture. 
This  point  will  appear 
if  the  reader  will  com- 
pare  its  illustrations 
with  those  for  Thor- 
waldsen and  Canova. 

On  the  whole,  the 
German  sculptors 
Ranch  and  Kiss  repre- 
sent the  highest  level 
of  success  for  the  first 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Both  of  these  artists  had 
risen  to  independent  mastery  of  form  and  independent  rep- 
resentation of  it.  Ranch's  great  monument  of  Frederick 
the  Great  in  Berlin  is  the  finest  of  its  kind  in  Europe.  The 
Amazon,  by  Kiss,  fronting  the  entrance  to  the  Berlin 
Museum,  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  of  modern  works. 


Fig,  167. — Andromeda.   Design  for  the  Gates  of 
Hell.   (Dante's  Inferno.)   By  Rodin.  Photo- 
graphed, by  permission,  for  this  work, 
at  the  Columbian  Exposition. 


Sculpture  in  the  Nineteenth  Century, 


259 


In  more  recent  years  the  credit  of  shaking  off  the  tram- 
mels of  imitative  Grecianizing  sculpture  belongs  especially 
to  the  artists  of  France,  and  in  this  movement  the  influence 
of  the  early  Renaissance,  as  nearer  to  our  own  time  than 
the  Greek  in  its  attitude  toward  nature,  had  no  small  share. 
Among  these  French  artists  we  may  mention  Carpeaux, 


Fig.  168.— Cast  of  a  Lion,  by  Barye.   Trocadero  Museum,  Paris. 


Falguiere,  and  the  isolated  and  powerful  genius  of  Rodin. 
For  uncompromising  realism,  sense  of  character,  and  pow- 
erful and  bold  summary  of  the  essentials  of  form  (as  dis- 
tinct from  minute  and  over-anxious  specializing  of  details) 
the  French  sculptor  Barye  has  no  superior  in  modern  art. 
His  devotion  to  the  field  of  animal  sculpture  may  be  con- 
sidered a  limitation  when  the  element  of  thought  in  art  is 
given  its  place,  but  this  colossal  genius  was  able  to  find  a 
field  in  animals  which  did  not  expose  him  to  the  prejudices 
and  preoccupations  of  modern  amateurs  so  long  accus- 
tomed in  figure  design  to  the  imitation  of  classic  art.  The 


26o  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


name  of  Cain  stands  only  second  to  Barye  in  the  same  field. 

Among  the  most  powerful  and  original  English  sculptors 
of  the  new  school  are  Hamo  Thornycroft  and  Sir  Frederick 
Leighton.  Sir  Frederick  Leighton's  statue  of  The  Slug- 
gard," exhibited  at  the  Columbian  Exposition,  must  have 
been  a  revelation  to  all  who  have  known  him  simply  as  a 
painter.  It  ranks  among  the  very  first  works  of  modern 
sculpture  in  the  last  four  centuries.  The  same  must  be  said 
of  Thornycroft' s  * '  Teucer, '  ^  which  is  one  of  the  treasures 
of  the  Art  Institute  of  Chicago,  and  one  of  the  finest  works 
of  foreign  sculpture  owned  in  this  country.  It  is  not,  how- 
ever, advisable  to  enlarge  the  catalogue  of  works  even  at  the 
risk  of  omitting  those  of  men  of  genius.  The  main  point  is 
to  state  the  tendency  which  the  last  twenty-five  years  have 
everywhere  exhibited — the  tendency  to  learn  principles  of 
execution  from  the  Greeks,  without  borrowing  their  subjects 
or  imitating  the  exterior  appearance  of  their  art.  Modern 
art  for  moderns,  is  the  watchword  at  last. 

To  this  tendency  the  younger  sculptors  of  America  have 
been  especially  influenced  by  the  teachings  of  the  best 
French  masters,  and  under  the  inspiration  of  this  tuition 
have  risen  to  a  point  of  greatness  where  they  have  become 
their  worthy  rivals.  In  fact,  when  we  distinguish  the  tech- 
nical ability  in  which  the  French  have  been  especially 
eminent,  from  the  thought,  conception,  and  purpose  of  the 
art,  the  palm  may  even  now  be  awarded  to  American 
sculpture.  In  this  distinction  we  do  not  wish  to  imply  any 
technical  inferiority  in  the  American  School,  but  rather  to 
refrain  from  asserting  for  it  a  superiority  of  simple  execution 
and  to  claim  for  it  by  contrast  the  superiority  of  a  more 
genuine,  original  spirit,  and  of  a  fresher  and  purer  Inspira- 
tion. We  can  only  say  that  no  opportunity  has  ever  been 
offered  modern  sculpture  like  that  assigned  it  in  the  statuary 


Sculpture  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  261 


for  the  buildings  and  grounds  at  the  Columbian  Exposition, 
and  that  American  artists  rose  to  the  occasion  and  were 
equal  to  it.  Nor  should  we  overlook  in  this  assertion  the 
foreign  birth  of  some  of  the  gentlemen  who  bore  away  great 
honors,  or  appear  to  be  ignorant  of  their  share  in  the  great 
success  achieved.  We  can  at  least  lay  claim  to  the  honor 
that  they  have  made 
America  their  second 
and  adopted  home,  and 
that  their  genius  found 
its  recognition  here. 

In  the  earlier  years 
of  this  century  and  the 
earlier  days  of  Ameri- 
can sculpture,  the  name 
of  Hiram  Powers  long 
held  sway  as  the  leading 
one.  To-day  we  must 
confess  that  our  interest 
in  him  is  historical  and 
that  he  is  the  weakest 
of  all  Greek  imitators 
who  have  achieved  a 
name.  That  he  was 
the  first  of  American 
sculptors  to  make  a 
name  must  be  con- 
ceded. His  ability  did 
not  go  farther  than  that 
of  making  a  weak  imitation  of  the  Medici  Venus,  with 
deviations  of  pose  and  attitude  sufficient  to  allow  of  a  new 
baptism.  His  Greek  Slave,"  known  in  several  copies, 
had  a  world-wide  reputation  about  the  middle  of  this 


Fig.  169. — Teucer,  by  Hamo  Thornycroft.  Prop- 
erty of  the  Art  Institute  of  Chicago.  Pho- 
tographed, by  permission,  for  this  work, 
at  the  Columbian  Exposition. 


262  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


century — when  critics  were  less  exacting  than  they  are 
to-day.  The  names  of  Crawford  (bronze  doors  of  the 
Capitol  at  Washington)  and  Palmer,  possibly  less  quoted 
than  Hiram  Powers,  will  stand  far  higher.  In  the  days 
following  the  Civil  War  the  statuette  groups  of  John  Rogers 
had  a  popularity  which  they  have  not  yet  entirely  lost. 
They  do  not  claim  to  be  more  than  pictures  in  clay,  but, 
making  all  concessions  to  the  humility  of  size  and  purpose, 
we  must  still  refrain  from  awarding  praise  to  these  groups. 
Deficiency  in  dignity  should  not  alone  condemn  a  small  and 
unpretentious  group  or  statuette,  but  these  works  are  a 
dangerous  concession  to  the  taste  which  looks  to  the  imita- 
tion of  textures  and  the  representation  of  anecdotes  and 
incidents  by  plastic  art.  The  statue  of  Lincoln,  by  Rogers, 
seen  at  the  Columbian  Exposition,  is  a  serious  and  important 
work  of  the  first  class.  To  judge  from  this  statue,  his  little 
groups  have  been  one  of  those  concessions  of  the  bread- 
winner to  popular  taste,  of  which  modern  art  is,  unhappily, 
so  full.  It  is  useless  to  criticise  an  artist  in  such  matters, 
where  only  the  public  is  to  blame. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  third  quarter  of  our  century  the 
names  of  Launt  Thompson  and  J.  Q.  A.  Ward  were  prob- 
ably the  most  important.  The  dignity,  reserve,  and  sim- 
plicity of  Thompson's  work  have  been  universally  recog- 
nized. His  portrait  statues  of  Yale,  at  New  Haven,  and 
of  Bonaparte,  in  the  Museum  of  New  York,  will  long  hold 
their  own.  John  Quincy  Ward  is  the  great  father  of  recent 
American  sculpture,  and  his  bronze  statue  of  Henry  Ward 
Beecher,  in  Brooklyn,  proves  that  his  talent  is  still  young 
in  these  later  years.  All  of  Ward's  works  are  careful, 
exact,  and  conscientious  studies.  His  Beecher  is  an  in- 
spiration. 

We  come  then  to  the  latest,  best,  and  youngest  gener- 


Fig.  170.— Bronze  Group.    Charles  Dickens  and  Little  Nell,  by  F.  Edwin  Elwell. 
Published  by  permission  of  the  Artist. 


264  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


ation  of  American  sculptors,  headed  by  Augustus  St. 
Gaudens,  Olin  Warner,  and  Daniel  C.  French,  names  of 
such  distinction  that  to  praise  them  is  superfluous  and  to 
criticise  them  impossible  or  impertinent.  What  younger 
artists  will  wrench  their  laurels  from  them  is  uncertain,  but 
Potter,  Partridge,  and  Boyle,  Taft,  Rubisso,  and  Mac- 
Monnies,  Dalin,  Proctor,  and  Kemeys,  Adams,  Kitson,  and 

Donoghue,  Tilden, 
Wesselhoeft,  Barriett, 
Grafly,  and  Elwell  are 
among  the  number  of 
their  rivals. 

Of  all  modern  por- 
trait statues  of  authors 
the  ^ '  Dickens  and  Lit- 
tle Nell''  of  Mr.  Edwin 
F.  Elwell  appears  to 
me  the  most  inspired. 
The  thought  of  con- 
necting an  author  with 
his  favorite  creation,  of 
calling  to  life  the  phan- 
tom of  the  brain,  of 
showing  at  once  the 
author  and  his  work  in 
spiritual  sympathy  and 
union  is  an  original  and 
beautiful  idea.  Mr.  Elwell' s  colossal  Hancock,  designed  for 
the  battlefield  of  Gettysburg,  is  one  of  the  most  important 
equestrian  monuments  of  modern  history. 

Among  the  portrait  statues  of  American  Colonial  heroes 
and  statesmen  there  is  surely  none  to  rival  the  Hamilton  of 
Wm.  Ordway  Partridge,  in  Brooklyn.    As  the  ideal  of  an 


F:g.  171.— Bronze  Statue  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
Brooklyn.    By  J.  Q.  A.  Ward. 


Fig.  172— Bronze  Statue  of  Hamilton,  Brooklyn.   By  William  Ordway  Partridge 
Published  by  permission  of  the  Artist. 


266 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


orator  it  appears  to  me  the  most  successful  work  in  modern 
art.  It  is  the  great  fortune  of  Mr.  Partridge  to  have  a 
practical  knowledge  of  the  art  of  the  dramatist  and  of 
elocution.  The  combination  in  his  Hamilton  of  statuesque 
reserve  with  the  suggestion  of  the  spirited  effort  of  a  great 
spokesman  is  a  marvelous  success.  The  Shakespeare  of 
Mr.  Partridge,  in  Lincoln  Park,  Chicago,  is  a  refined  and 
dignified  work  of  masterly  detail. 

In  the  preparations  for  the  Columbian  Exposition  the  su- 


FiG.  173,— Landscape  Group,  by  E.  C.  Potter  and  Daniel  C.  French, 
Columbian  Exposition. 

preme  task  was  assigned  to  Mr.  Daniel  C.  French — a  colos- 
sal statue  of  the  ' '  Republic. ' '  The  failure  would  have  been 
colossal,  the  success  must  be  equally  rated.  With  every 
increase  of  dimension  in  statuary  its  problem  becomes 
more  difficult.  To  say  that  this  problem  was  solved  with 
beauty,  with  originality,  with  simplicity,  and  with  dignity 


Sculpture  in  the  Nineteenth  Century.  267 


is  saying  what  no  one  can  deny.  For  the  given  place 
and  given  architectural  surroundings  to  which  the  equally 
balanced  and  equally 
uplifted  arms  exactly 
corresponded,  this  has 
proved  the  most  suc- 
cessful colossal  work  of 
modern  sculpture.  Its 
most  obvious  rivals 
would  be  the  ''Lib- 
erty" of  New  York 
harbor,  the  ''Bavaria" 
in  Munich,  by  Schwan- 
thaler,  and  the  ' '  Her- 
mann's  Denkmal,'* 
or  monument  of  Ar- 


FlG. 


174.— Statue  of  the  Republic. 
By  Daniel  C.  French. 


minius,  near  Detmold  in  Germany,  and  none  of  these  can 
be  called  its  equal.    Mr.  French's  relief  for  the  tomb  of  a 

sculptor,  called  ' '  The 
Angel  of  Death  and 
the  Sculptor,"  was  ex- 
hibited in  the  Art  Pal- 
ace at  the  Columbian 
Exposition.  Since  the 
tomb  reliefs  of  ancient 
Athens  the  works  are 
few  indeed  which  could 
compare  with  it. 

For  the  statuary 
groups  of  the  Court  of 
Honor,  Mr.  French 
and  Mr.  Potter  have 
already  received  a  trib- 


FlG.  175. — Sea  Horses, 
by  MacMonnies. 


Detail  from  the  Fountain 
Columbian  Exposition. 


268  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


ute  of  appreciation  to  which  I  can  only  add  my  own.  No 
similar  works  of  modern  history  are  deserving  of  equal  place, 
and  I  can  see  no  reason  for  suggesting  that  antiquity  sur- 


FiG.  176.— Mounted  Indian,  by  Proctor.   Facing  the  Transportation 
Building,  Columbian  Exposition. 

passed  them.  It  should  be  added  that  their  material,  al- 
though perishable,  was  contributory  to  this  success.  The 
weakness  of  modern  sculpture  lies  in  its  lack  of  constant 
practice  with  the  chisel.  The  manual  labor  of  cutting  the 
block  of  marble  has  been  so  constantly  assigned  to  subordi- 
nate workmen  that  the  mastery  of  chisel  technique  is  more 
or  less  wanting  to  the  modern  sculptor.  It  is  when  his  own 
model  can  be  direcUy  transferred  to  cast  in  a  material  like 
''staff,"  or  actually  worked  up  in  this  material,  whose 


Sculpture  in  the  Nineteenth  Century. 


269 


rough  surface  is  favorable  to  large  effects,  that  the  genius  of 
the  modern  artist  best  stands  comparison  with  his  rivals  of 
antiquity. 

In  the  application  of  statuary  to  architectural  decoration 
the  use  of  this  material  again  allowed  the  artists  of  the 
Columbian  Exposition  to  achieve  a  scale  and  amount  of 
decoration  hitherto  unknown,  at  least  since  the  time  of  the 
Romans,  and  again  they  were  equal  to  the  occasion.  No 
works  of  the  kind  in  modern  art  can  be  compared  with  those 
achieved  by  Mr.  Carl  Bitter  and  Mr.  Martiny  for  the  Ad- 


FiG.  177.— Aerial  Navigation,  by  John  J.  Boyle.   Transportation  Building, 
Columbian  Exposition. 

ministration  and  Agricultural  buildings.  The  works  of  Mr. 
Boyle  and  Mr.  Taft  on  the  Transportation  and  Horticul- 
tural buildings  are  also  deserving  of  great  praise.  The 


270  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


Indian  of  Mr.  Boyle,  in  Lincoln  Park,  Chicago,  is  his  great 
masterpiece. 

In  our  account  of  the  artistic  triumphs  of  the  Columbian 
Exposition  we  have  also  to  mention  the  masterly  animal 
sculptures  of  Mr.  Proctor  and  Mr.  Kemeys  with  which  the 
grounds  were  filled.  The  Buffalo  Hunt  of  Mr.  Bush-Brown, 
which  was  a  central  piece  of  the  Art  Palace,  shows  him  a 

  finished  master  in  the 

same  specialty.  Men- 
tion of  the  great  foun- 
tain of  the  Court  of 
Honor,  by  Frederick 
MacMonnies,  may  close 
our  effort  to  do  justice 
to  the  almost  inex- 
haustible list  of  master- 
pieces offered  by  the 
Columbian  Exposition. 
The  sea-horses  sur- 
rounding its  '  'triumph- 
al barge"  have  never 
had  their  superiors. 

The  most  generally 
quoted  masterpiece  of 
Augustus  St.  Gaudens 
is  the  bronze  statue  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  in 
Lincoln  Park,  Chicago. 
Its  uncompromising  and  honest  realism  appeals  to  every 
eye.  On  the  other  hand,  the  reliefs  of  this  master  are  of 
ideal  and  classic  beauty.  In  fact  it  is  hard  to  see  where 
parallels  can  be  found  for  the  recent  relief  work  of  several 
American  sculptors  short  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Several 


Fig.  178.— Bronze  Statue  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 
By  Augustus  St.  Gaudens.  Lincoln 
Park,  Chicago. 


Sculpture  in  the  Nineteenth  Century.  271 


of  them  are  unquestionably  superior  to  Thorwaldsen,  as 
being  of  fresher  and  more  genuine  spirit  and  not  deficient 
in  equal  beauty  of  composition. 

In  the  application  of  color  to  works  of  sculpture,  Mr. 
Herbert  Adams  is  foremost  among  American  artists,  as 
known  to  me.  Since  the  time  of  John  Gibson  no  im- 
portant work  has  previously  been  done  in  this  direction. 
That  of  Mr.  Adams  is  tender  and  beautiful.  In  face  of 
such  work  the  prejudice  against  colored  sculpture  is  des- 
tined to  disappear  rapidly. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 


ENGLISH   AND   FRENCH  PAINTING. 

Eighteenth  and  Nineteenth  Centuries. 

The  painting  of  the  late  eighteenth  and  early  nineteenth 
centuries  did  not  for  Europe  at  large  rise  above  a  rather  weak 
reflex  of  the  contemporary  movement  in  literature  and  in 
the  sister  arts.  It  threw  off  the  last  vestige  of  eighteenth 
century  traits,  but  did  not  rise  above  negative  virtues  in  the 
main.  It  was  praiseworthy  rather  for  what  it  did  not  do 
than  for  what  it  did  do.  Its  great  progress  was  that  it  had 
learned  to  reverence  the  best  Italians,  rather  than  the  worst — 
but  the  very  greatness  and  unapproachable  excellence  of 
the  newly  admired  and  greatest  Old  Masters  exercised  for 
the  time  a  crippling  influence  on  its  efforts.  It  could  not 
resurrect  the  Italian  art,  and  it  could  not  assimilate  it  to 
modern  uses.  Modern  painting  was  appreciative  but  not 
creative. 

The  most  important  revival  in  the  art  of  figure  compo- 
sition was  that  of  the  German  Cornelius  (frescoes  in 
Munich)  and  of  Kaulbach  (frescoes  in  the  Berlin  Museum), 
but  neither  these  artists  nor  any  of  their  contemporary 
countrymen  were  able  to  reach  a  corresponding  success  in 
warmth  or  harmony  of  color.  The  later  artists  of  Munich, 
headed  by  Piloty,  were  the  first  among  Germans  to  reach 
relative  success  in  color.  These  again  were  followed  by  the 
first  and  only  German  who  has  approached  the  gorgeous 
and  sumptuous  color  of  the  old  Venetians,  the  Viennese 
Hans  Makart. 

272 


English  and  French  Painting, 


273 


In  France  the  elegant  court  life  of  the  eighteenth  century- 
had  furnished  interesting  subjects  for  the  brush  of  Watteau. 
At  its  close  Greuze  had  represented  a  new  school  of  realism, 
in  which  one  side  of  the  social  revolution  was  reflected, 


Fig.  179. —Boy  Fighting,  by  Gainsborough.    Photographed  for  this  work, 
by  permission  of  the  owner,  Mr.  Henry  T.  Chapman,  of  Brooklyn. 

while  David  represented  the  classical  tendencies  of  the  same 
period.  The  portraits  of  Gerard  have  handed  down  to  us 
many  of  the  great  characters  of  this  time  in  pictures  worthy 
of  them.    Gros  and  Gericault  were  later  contemporaries  of 


274  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


David,  in  whom  a  vigorous  sense  of  reality  asserts  itself, 
and  to  these  again  succeeded  Eugene  Delacroix,  as  the 
artist  of  passion  and  of  power. 

Meantime  a  colder  classical  French  School  was  apparently 
in  the  ascendant,  clinging  to  tradition  and  fearing  to  con- 
cede the  greatness  of  the  true  men  of  genius  silently  work- 


Fig.  i8o,— Landscape,  by  Diaz.    Photographed  for  this  work,  by  permission 
of  the  owner,  Mr.  Henry  T.  Chapman,  of  Brooklyn. 

ing  in  obscurity.  To  these,  then  more  obscure  French 
painters  of  the  years  1 825-1 850  and  later,  posterity  has  now 
rendered  full  justice,  and  the  names  of  Corot,  of  Millet,  of 
Decamps,  of  Michel,  and  of  Rousseau  are  on  every  lip. 

Of  the  same  time,  and  following  the  same  tendencies, 
are  Dupr6,  Troyon,  Monticelli,  and  Diaz.    The  special  bias 


English  and  French  Painting,  275 


and  excellence  of  this  great  French  School,  dating  from  the 
second  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  the  greatest 
of  recent  times,  are  best  explained  by  turning  back  to  Eng- 


FiG.  181— Peasant  Woman,  by  Millet.    Photographed  for  this  work,  by  permission 
of  the  owner,  Mr.  Henry  T.  Chapman,  of  Brooklyn. 


land  in  the  eighteenth  century,  where  we  shall  find  the  con- 
necting link  between  the  older  art  of  the  Continent  and  the 
greatest  modern  art  of  France. 


276  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


We  have  seen  that  England  had  no  painters  of  renown 
until  the. eighteenth  century,  and  that  her  two  most  quoted 
painters  of  preceding  time  were  foreigners  (p.  181).  To 
her  great  artists  of  the  eighteenth  century,  on  the  other 
hand,  Continental  Europe  can  offer  no  contemporary  rivals; 
a  fact  which  we  can  place  in  proper  perspective  of  history 


Fig.  182,— Landscape,  by  Corot.    Photog^raphed  for  this  work,  by  permission  of 
the  owner,  Mr.  Henry  T.  Chapman,  of  Brooklyn. 

only  by  understanding  the  backwardness  of  English  culture 
before  this  time,  and  also  the  way  in  which  a  movement  of  in- 
tellect and  art  passes  from  one  country  to  another;  each  fire, 
as  it  expires,  lighting  a  new  spark  for  perpetuation  elsewhere 
of  the  same  eternal  principles  of  beauty,  of  color,  and  of  form. 


English  and  French  Painting,  277 


The  worthy  perpetuators  of  the  older  traditions  of  Euro- 
pean painting  were  the  EngHsh  artists,  Wilson,  Morland, 
Reynolds,  Gainsborough,  and  their  school.  Through  these 
men  and  their  successors,  of  whom  Constable  and  Etty  were 
closest  in  method  to  their  great  predecessors,  these  traditions 
were  handed  over  to  the  French  School,  headed  by  Rous- 
seau, about  1830,  at  a  time  when  English  fashions  were 
ascendant  in  France  and  when  these  English  artists  were 
highly  valued  and  appreciated  there.  Intermediate  in 
time,  between  the  eighteenth  century  English  and  the  1830 
School  of  France,  stand  the  English  landscape  artists. 
Constable  and  Turner.  It  was  the  pictures  and  personal 
influence  of  Constable  which  most  powerfully  and  directly 
influenced  the  French. 

It  is  more  especially  in  landscapes  that  the  continuity  of 
influence  between  the  art  of  Constable  and  of  Rousseau  is 
seen,  and  in  both  painters  we  find  the  same  disposition  to 
look  at  things  in  their  effects  and  masses  rather  than  in 
their  details. 

To  appreciate  the  greatness  of  these  men  of  genius,  we 
must  remember  that  some  of  the  most  elementary  principles 
are  frequently  overlooked  by  those  inferior  landscapists  and 
their  admirers,  whose  numbers  have  been  large  in  our 
century.  It  is  often  forgotten  that  a  picture  is  several  or 
many  thousand  times  smaller  than  the  nature  which  it 
includes.  To  reduce  each  dimension  and  object  of  nature 
to  the  proportionate  fractional  size,  and  to  show  it  in  the 
same  distinctness  in  which  it  might  possibly,  and  when 
separately  examined,  be  seen  in  nature,  is  the  effort  of  the 
inferior  landscapist.  In  this  effort  such  an  artist  forgets 
that  simultaneous  concentration  of  the  eye  on  a  multitude 
of  separate  details  is  not  possible  in  actual  vision. 

Persuasion,  belief,  and  knowledge  that  these  separate 


278  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


details  have  a  distinct  existence  are  present  to  us,  but  we 
see  a  tree  and  not  the  leaves,  a  lake,  but  not  its  individual 
waves,  a  human  being,  but  not  the  various  portions  of  the 
raiment,  that  is  when  one  glance  takes  in  the  whole.  The 
possibility  exists,  because  time  allows  it,  of  uniting  on  a 


Fig.  183. — Landscape,  by  Claude  Lorrain.    Photographed  for  this  work  by 
permission  of  the  Owner,  Mr.  Henry  T.  Chapman,  of  Brooklyn. 

canvas  surface  a  series  of  minimized  replicas  of  the  parts 
which  make  up  a  whole  in  nature.  The  possibility  exists, 
because  the  eye  can  take  in  the  canvas  in  a  few  glances  or 
in  one,  that  the  eye  may  take  in  the  parts  which  make  the 
picture  so  as  to  affect  the  mind  with  the  belief  that  it  sees 
the  whole  as  it  is  seen  in  nature.  But  the  person  who 
knows  how  he  really  sees  will  never  be  willing  to  call  a 
work  of  art  in  landscape  anything  which  minimizes  and 


English  and  French  Painti7ig,  279 


emphasizes  all  its  details  in  fractional  proportion  and  reduc- 
tion. 

In  actuality  our  eye  wanders  from  instant  to  instant  in 
order  to  include  a  whole.  The  artist  who  presents  this  whole 
as  though  the  eye  were  fixed  on  one  point  is  bound,  logically, 
to  present  all  others  in  the  vague  way  best  described  by  the 
appearance  of  an  object  we  are  not  looking  at,  as  included 
in  the  outer  circle  of  view  and  as  it  strikes  the  outer  corner 
of  the  eye  on  the  extreme  edge  of  vision.    But  no  artist 


Fig.  184. — Landscape,  by  Homer  Martin.    Photographed  for  this  work  at 
the  Columbian  Exposition,  by  permission  of  the  Artist. 

could  attempt  this  feat;  therefore  the  problem  of  the  land- 
scape painter  is  to  present  in  one  view  the  imaginary 
result  of  a  series  of  glances  and  no  one  of  these  will  have 
included  a  microscopic  catalogue  of  details. 


2&0  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


This  effort  to  describe  the  philosophy  of  a  Claude,  a  Con- 
stable, or  a  Corot,  leaves  out  the  element  of  color,  as  being 
mainly  undebatable  on  paper  or  at  least  undebatable  with- 
out two  definite  examples  of  color  in  mind,  one  better  and 
one  worse. 

We  may  again  take  refuge  in  this  difficulty  by  describing 
an  inferior  art  and  an  inferior  taste  in  color  as  that  which 
prefers  things  in  pictures  more  highly  colored,  or  ' '  sweet- 
ened,'^ than  they  actually  are.    For  instance,  we  might 


Fig.  185. — Maine  Coast  in  Winter.    Winslow  Homer.  Photographed  for  this  work 
at  the  Columbian  Exposition,  by  permission  of  the  Artist  and  Owner. 


like  to  see  bootblacks  with  rosy  cheeks  or  clean  faces,  but 
we  rarely  do  in  nature,  although  they  more  frequently  so 
appear  in  pictures.  One  greatness  of  Millet  is  that  he 
does  not  over-color  or  highly  color  his  peasant.  A  rough 
skin  and  a  rough  dress  cannot  be  represented  by  clear  or 
bright  colors. 


English  and  French  Painting,  281 


The  sin  of  the  commonplace  painter  is  dressing  up  in 
bright  hues  and  tints  an  imaginary  picture  of  rose-colored 
things  or  people.  It  does  not  follow  that  a  color  not 
actually  seen  in  nature  is  not  admissible  in  a  painting.  The 
colors  of  nature  never  can  be  and  never  are  reproduced  in 
a  painting  either  in  mass  or  in  details.  In  details  it  would 
be  absurd  to  attempt  it,  for  reasons  already  given.  In 
mass  the  effort  is  simply  beyond  possibility  when  we  are 
speaking  of  absolute  actualities.  What  the  great  painter 
does  with  his  colors  is  to  throw  us  into  the  state  of  mind  or 
sentiment  which  the  sight  of  nature  produces  on  us,  and 
here  it  is  that  the  affinities  of  temperament,  which  are 
largely  affected  by  the  same  colors  in  the  same  way,  come 
in  play  in  our  preference  for  one  colorist  over  another.  It 
is  at  this  point  that  the  question  of  the  ' '  low-toned  picture' ' 
presents  itself  Although  there  are  marked  distinctions  on 
this  head  among  the  French  artists  we  have  named,  the 

low  tone  "  is  a  general  trait  of  their  work. 

The  ' '  low-toned  picture ' '  appeals  to  a  certain  tempera- 
ment. This  temperament  is  the  temperament  of  Rem- 
brandt, of  Ribot,  or  of  Decamps,  or  of  the  American 
Albert  Ryder.  This  temperament  prefers  a  certain  mys- 
tery of  effect,  a  picture  to  which  one  can  return  without 
having  seen  the  whole  of  it  the  first  time  it  has  been  looked 
at.  The  painting  of  nature  which  lasts  is  the  painting  in 
which  nature  is  not  revealed  too  suddenly  or  too  entirely. 

In  other  words,  the  mystery  of  nature,  which  in  nature 
may  lie  in  its  magnitude,  in  its  unfathomable  space  or 
incomputable  variety  or  in  our  sense  that  we  have  seen  it 
differently  yesterday  and  shall  again  see  it  differently  to- 
morrow, or  the  mystery  of  character  or  of  an  event  or 
episode  whose  causes  are  unknown,  uncomprehended  or 
not  thought  out — all  this  may  be  suggested  by  the  ' '  low- 


282  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


toned  picture"  of  the  given  subject.  Being  a  piece  of 
canvas  taken  in  by  one  glance,  on  which  the  same  Hues  and 
colors  lie  forever,  the  picture  can  only  suggest  the  element 
of  the  unknown  or  the  infinite  by  this  device. 

In  all  these  points  which  I  have  tried  to  suggest  as  virtues 
of  the  greatest  French  artists  of  the  nineteenth  century  or 
of  the  English  School  of  the  eighteenth  century,  we  have 
applications  of  principles  which  are  found  as  far  back  as  Da 
Vinci,  and  which  were  never  subsequently  abandoned  by 
the  great  painters  of  history.  In  such  points  lies  the 
supreme  excellence  of  the  Old  Masters,  when  they  are  con- 
sidered as  painters  rather  than  as  historic  illustrations  of 
general  historic  facts. 

It  is  interesting  to  feel  that  between  periods  as  distinct  as 
the  nineteenth  century  and  the  sixteenth,  there  is  still  a 
bond  in  the  methods  of  the  great  artists,  wide  apart  as  is 
their  mission  and  historic  place.  In  fact,  when  we  consider 
the  deficiencies  of  patronage,  of  immediate  appreciation, 
and  of  adequate  reward  which  the  greatest  modern  artists 
have  labored  under,  their  success  and  worth  cannot  be 
rated  below  that  of  their  more  fortunate  brethren  of  the 
past — more  fortunate  as  regards  public  support,  an  assured 
livelihood,  and  a  subject  matter  which  was  ready-made  and 
already  at  hand. 

In  what  I  have  said  of  the  philosophy  of  vision,  I  have 
so  far  mainly  confined  myself  to  landscape  because  it  is  a 
class  of  subject  in  which  the  enormous  disparity  of  size  be- 
tween nature  and  copy  is  obvious,  and  in  which  the  distinc- 
tion between  the  infinite  variety  of  nature  and  the  amount 
of  that  infinitude  which  can  be  suggested  by  a  copy  is  also 
obvious.  It  is  easiest  to  show  and  feel  for  landscape  that 
some  choice  has  to  be  made  as  to  what  shall  be  attempted, 
easiest  to  show  and  feel  for  landscape  that  the  effect  of  the 


English  and  French  Painting,  283 


whole  is  what  must  be  attempted,  and  easiest  to  show  and 
feel  that  this  can  be  done  only  by  presenting  an  object  in 
mass  or  by  presenting  objects  in  masses,  because  the 
dimensions  of  the  work  of  art  are  so  greatly  minimized  as 
compared  with  the  nature  represented. 

From  this  point  it  is  not  difficult  to  move  to  another. 
Given  the  difficulty  of  relating  art  to  this  kind  of  nature,  it 
is  clear  that  a  choice  of  a  point  of  view  in  a  picture  must 
have  much  to  do  with  its  quality.  The  panoramic  point  of 
view  is  the  one  to  be  avoided;  the  picturesque,  that  is,  the 
limited  point  of  view,  is  the  one  to  be  sought.  It  also 
follows  that  atmosphere  should  be  used  for  contrast,  and 
not  for  the  most  important  feature  of  the  picture.  It  is 
according  to  these  principles,  and  on  account  of  them,  that 
Claude,  Constable,  Rousseau  and  his  school,  almost  in- 
variably show  a  foreground  composition.  Given  a  fore- 
ground composition,  there  again  arises  the  problem  of 
balance  of  opposition  in  objects,  and  of  contrast  in  colors. 
Finally,  the  tone  of  the  picture  determines  its  standing. 
The  gaudily  colored  picture  tires  and  strains  the  eye,  the 
low-toned  picture  rests  it  and  also  suggests  more  of  the 
mystery  of  nature.  Admitting  the  varieties  of  individual 
taste,  of  varieties  of  mood  in  the  same  taste,  and  the  count- 
less concessions  which  have  to  be  made  to  individual  genius 
and  to  the  surrounding  conditions,  we  may  add  one  more 
and  the  most  important  trait. 

The  one  first  condition  of  all  great  painting  is  an  honest 
interest  in  the  work  or  the  theme  for  its  own  sake,  without 
reference  to  mercantile  considerations.  The  mercantile 
element  ruins  a  painting.  The  instant  we  detect  in  it  the 
quality  of  being  made  to  sell  as  opposed  to  the  quality 
which  shows  that  the  artist  would  rather  starve  than  concede 
one  point  of  his  convictions  or  even  of  his  own  individual 


284  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


preference  in  the  choice  of  a  subject,  we  have  touched  the 
first  downward  round  of  the  ladder  which  leads  to  the  cor- 
ruption of  art. 

We  will  now  return  to  the  French  School  of  1825-1850 


Fig.  186.— Labor,  by  J.  F.  Millet. 


to  observe  that  what  has  been  said  is  not  only  an  effort  to 
explain  its  greatness,  but  also  to  bring  to  the  front  the 
numerous  artists  of  our  own  country  who  are  following  the 
same  path.  Personal  character  is  the  only  ultimate  deter- 
minant in  art.  The  facility  of  the  hand  is  a  matter  of 
practice.  It  is  the  eye  which  controls  the  hand.  But  the 
power  of  vision  is  not  the  only  thing  in  question  here. 
Even  in  landscape  we  see  that  the  question  of  choice  is  all- 
important.    In  other  subjects  it  is  still  more  so. 


English  and  French  Painting, 


285 


Let  us  select  the  artist  Millet  as  a  personality,  from  which 
we  may  draw  some  lessons  as  to  the  choice  of  subject. 
Millet's  well-known  greatness  consists  in  the  devotion  of  his 
art  to  the  life  of  the  French  peasantry — but  observe  that  it  is 
always  the  serious  side  of  the  peasant  life  that  he  has  given 
us.  It  is  not  the  peasant  in  holiday  dress  or  making 
merry.  The  life  of  toil,  the  dignity,  the  pathos,  and  the 
humility  of  labor — that  is  the  one  theme  of  his  pictures. 
From  the  recognized  standing  of  Millet  in  French  art  we 
may  determine,  then,  another  point  of  view  which  may  fix 


Fig.  187.— a  Great  Gale.   Winslow  Homer.    Photographed  for  this  work  at  the 
Columbian  Exposition,  by  permission  of  the  Artist  and  Owner. 

the  position  of  the  modern  artist,  viz. ,  the  point  of  view 
which  concerns  his  purpose  and  his  thought.  It  is  easiest 
to  illustrate  this  point  of  view  when  we  are  dealing  with  an 
intensely  serious  purpose,  such  as  Millet  forces  us  to  recog- 
nize; but  I  should  be  far  from  wishing  to  confine  the  defi- 


286  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


nition  of  serious  art  to  that  which  is  serious  in  subject.  Let 
us  note,  however,  that  the  sphere  of  modern  art  includes 
among  its  most  important  specialties  that  of  the  student  of 
daily  life  in  its  humble  avocations,  seeking  to  exalt  and 
glorify  the  lowly  and  the  poor  in  spirit.  Why  should  we 
hesitate  to  name  our  own  Winslow  Homer  as  another 
instance  of  this  same  tendency,  and  one  of  the  greatest  of 
our  day?  The  stamp  of  the  genuine,  true,  and  sturdy 
spirit  is  never  lacking  in  his  pictures. 

In  the  study  of  character  and  human  nature  in  contem- 


FiG.  i88. — "Sailors,  Take  Warning."    By  Winslow  Homer.    Photog-raphed  for 
this  work  at  the  Columbian  Exposition,  by  permission  of  the  Artist. 


porary  life,  modern  art  has  produced  much  that  is  great. 
Both  England  and  Germany  have  affected  this  class  of  sub- 
ject more  than  the  French,  although  without  reaching  a 
similar  average  of  technical  value,  especially  in  color.  The 
English  artists  of  our  day  have  been  foremost  among  Euro- 


English  and  French  Painting,  287 


pean  painters  in  this  class,  and  they  have  found  their 
worthy  rivals  and  occasional  superiors  in  this  country. 
Since  the  days  of  Wilkie,  English  art  has  reveled  in  the 
subjects  of  everyday  life  as  an  inexhaustible  storehouse  of 
humor,  pathos,  and  interest — too  often,  however,  with  an 


Fig.  189.— Greek  Girls  Playing  at  Ball.    Sir  Frederick  Leighton. 

over-anxious  nicety  of  details  and  without  due  reference  to 
harmonies  and  tones  of  color.  Color  has  been  the  weak 
point  of  nineteenth  century  English,  as  well  as  of  German, 
art.  The  English  School  of  our  day  cannot  compare  in 
this  sense  either  with  its  own  art  of  the  eighteenth  century 
or  with  the  modern  French. 

To  this  rule  the  exceptions  are  mainly  recent  but  con- 
spicuous. Sir  Frederick  Leighton  is  one  of  the  most 
obvious,  and  Alma-Tadema  another.  Both  of  these 
painters  tend  to  the  antiquarian,  or  the  classic  subject — 
Alma-Tadema  with  a  painstaking  minuteness  of  execution 
which  leaves  a  somewhat  frigid  impression.    To  the  same 


288 


Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


general  class  may  be  reckoned  the  excellent  works  of 
Poynter.    A  far  more  powerful  colorist  than  any  of  these 

isJohnM.  Swan,  whose 
paintings  at  the  Colum- 
bian Exposition  were  a 
striking  revelation  of 
the  possibilities  of  mod- 
ern and  of  English  art. 

In  Burne-Jones  we 
find  another  stamp  of 
genius,  imaginative  like 
Leighton,  but  even 
more  intent  on  effects 
of  outline  and  the  bal- 
ance of  figures;  as  a 
composer  of  designs, 
according  to  architec- 
tural schemes,  basing 
very  distinctly  on  the 
old  Italians.  The  de- 
ceased Albert  Moore 
had  a  similar  bent  and 
talent. 

In  George  F.  Watts 
we  appreciate  a  greater 
idealist  than  Burne- 
Jones,  or  Rossetti — 
almost  Shakespearean 
in  his  profound  and 
touching  allegories. 
The  titles  of  his  paint- 

FiG.  i9o.-Love  and  Death.    By  George  F.      il^gS  are  a  key  tO  their 
Watts.   From  the  EngUsh  Loans  at  /-Tnararl-pr   and  the  rnn- 

the  Columbian  Exposition.  cnaracter ,  auQ  ine  con- 


English  and  French  Painting, 


289 


ception  never  falls  below  the  subject  in  suggestiveness  and 
poetic  thought.  * '  Love  and  Death ' '  and  ' '  Love  and  Life '  * 
were  seen  with  other  works,  at  the  Columbian  Exposition. 
The  latter  has  been  presented  by  Mr.  Watts  ' '  to  the  Ameri- 
can nation.''  Briton  Riviere  is  another  Englishman  hold- 
ing an  important  place  by  the  suggestive  treatment  of 
subjects  like  "Daniel  in  the  Lions'  Den"  or  ''Circe  and  the 
Companions  of  Ulysses."  In  this  latter  picture  the  com- 
panions of  Ulysses  are  turned  to  swine  and  crowding  about 


Fig.  191. — Reading  from  Homer.    By  Alma-Tadema.    From  the  American 
Loans  at  the  Columbian  Exposition. 


the  enchantress.  On  the  whole,  we  must  give  a  high  place 
to  modern  English  art  for  its  lofty  efforts,  nobility  of 
purpose,  and  moral  worth.  It  has  produced,  however, 
much  that  is  commonplace,  very  little  that  will  take  high 
rank  in  point  of  view  of  color,  and  no  recent  landscapes 
that  can  be  compared  with  the  best  French  or  the  best 
American.  Many  of  its  highly  quoted  names  of  the  middle 
period  of  the  century  are  almost  distressing  revelations  of 
the  backwardness  of  English  art  at  that  time,  after  their 
works  have   been  examined.    Among  these  the  animal 


290  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


painter,  Landseer,  may  be  quoted  as  an  instance;  an  artist 
made  widely  known  by  engravings  which  are  generally  far 
superior  to  his  pictures.    A  very  fine  Landseer  in  the 


Fig.  192.— Sea  Nymph.    By  Burne-Jones. 


possession  of  Mr.  Jesse  Haworth,  near  Manchester,  is  a 
notable  exception. 

It  seems  worth  while,  in  closing  our  notice  of  English 
art,  to  return  to  Turner  and  the  opening  of  the  century  for 
a  moment.  Turner  was  undoubtedly  a  master  of  supreme 
genius.    It  is  only  to  be  regretted  that  Mr.  Ruskin's 


English  and  French  Painting.  291 


enthusiastic  perception  of  his  genius  should  have  led  to 
an  exaltation  of  the  master,  not  objectionable  in  itself, 
but  tending  to  efface  the  greatness  of  other  artists  like 
Constable  who  were  less  fortunate  in  the  eloquence  of 
their  spokesman  or  who  had  not  any.  Turner's  work 
occasionally  showed,  after  1845,  a  degeneration  in  color 
quality,  due  to  old  age  and  possibly  to  his  interest  in 
problems  which  are  more  or  less  beyond  the  capacities 
of  pictorial  art.  Several  of  his  pictures  exhibited  in  the 
National  Gallery  belong  to  this  period ;  but  as  an  artist 
of  creative  and  imaginative  power  he  nevertheless  stands 
at  the  head  of  nineteenth  century  art. 


Fig.  193— The  Young  Marsyas.    By  Elihu  Vedder.    Photoe:raphed  for  this  work 
at  the  Columbian  Exposition,  by  permission  of  the  Artist  and  Owner. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 


RECENT  AMERICAN  ART. 


Before  turning  to  recent  American  art  we  shall  do 
well  to  guard  our  position  in  the  matter  of  methods  as  so 
far  considered,   aside  from  landscape,  lest  we  appear  to 

exclude  from  appreci- 
ation much  meritorious 
art  in  small  figure  com- 
position. The  dimi- 
nution of  the  field  of 
view  carries  with  itself 
logically- the  possibility 
of  greater  insistence  on 
detail.  There  are  even 
paintings  where  this 
detail  may  be  conceded 
the  main  interest.  The 
Dutch  artist,  Terburg, 
was  especially  famous 
for  his  satin  dresses. 
Notice,  now,  two 
points.  As  regards  the 
dimension  of  the  fig- 
ure, Terburg  did  not 
work  in  life-size;  his  figures  may  average  perhaps  a  foot 
high.  As  regards  the  number  of  figures,  his  pictures 
limit  them  to  two  or  three.  Now  the  refinement  of 
execution  in  a  satin  dress  which  makes  the  charm  of  a 


Fig.  194.— Design  for  an  Illustration  of  Brown- 
ing's "Men  and  Women" — "Childe  Roland 
to  the  Dark  Tower  Came."    By  John 
La  Farge.   Drawing  dated  i860. 


292 


Fig.  195.— Portrait,  by  J.  S.  Sargent.   Photographed  for  this  work  at  the 
Columbian  Exposition,  by  permission  of  the  Artist  and  Owner. 


Recent  American  Art, 


295 


Terburg  will  create  a  nightmare  of  ugliness  if  applied  to 
a  life-size  portrait.  Compare  the  method  of  Mr.  Sargent 
in  life-size  portraits  (Fig.  195)  for  the  execution  which 
revives  the  methods  of  Velasquez  or  of  Gainsborough. 
Conceive  now  of  the  method  of  Terburg  applied  not  to 
one  but  to  twenty  or  thirty  life-size  figures,  and  you 
produce  the  style  of  Brozik,  whose  colossal  picture  of 
Columbus  before  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  is  in  the  New 
York  Museum.  It  would  be  unjust  to  stigmatize  this  one 
painter  for  a  method  which  has  ruined  the  art  of  hundreds 
of  conscientious  painters  of  our  day.  It  is  evident,  then, 
that  not  only  the  dimensions  of  the  original  subject,  but  also 
the  dimensions  of  the  painting  itself,  outside  of  landscape 
art,  are  or  should  be  controlling  elements  in  the  matter  of 
method.  In  every  landscape  the  actual  dimensions  of 
nature  may  be  considered  as  almost  without  limit.  In 
anecdotal  figure  composition  on  small  sized  panels  and  of 
limited  actual  extent  in  original  nature,  our  point  of  view  as 
to  method,  whether  broad  or  more  minute  and  literal,  be- 
comes largely  one  of  personal  preference.  Where  the  eye 
can  take  in  within  a  foot  or  so  an  anecdote  or  episode,  the 
method,  whether  broad  or  minute  in  detail,  is  a  matter  of 
choice  at  the  discretion  of  the  painter,  and  in  both  methods 
good  results  may  be  obtained.  The  controlling  question 
concerns  not  the  method  but  the  matter  in  such  cases,  and 
the  ability  of  the  artist  within  the  limits  of  his  chosen  method. 
Where  life-size  figures  or  large  paintings  are  in  question 
there  can  be  little  question  as  to  choice  of  methods  as  be- 
tween the  broad  and  the  minutely  detailed.  The  influence 
of  Mr.  William  M.  Chase,  and  of  his  followers,  has  in  this 
sense  been  epoch-making  for  American  art — especially  for 
the  design  of  the  figure;  and  as  against  the  belittling  in- 
fluences which  English  art  of  the  middle  of  the  century  or 


296  Renaissance  and  Modern  Ari, 


earlier  had  exercised  on  our  own.  At  an  earlier  day  than 
that  of  Mr.  Chase,  William  M.  Hunt  was  one  of  the  few 
missionaries  of  the  new  idea  in  American  art.  One  of  its 
very  greatest  exponents  in  all  modern  time  has  been,  how- 
ever, the  deceased  and  long  unappreciated  George  Fuller. 
This  artist  was  the  Hawthorne  of  American  painters,  as 
Wordsworth  Thompson  and  Frederick  James  are  among 
its  Fenimore  Coopers. 

Among  American  painters  we  should  give  a  foremost 


Fig.  197.— The  Deserted  Inn.    By  Wordsworth  Thompson.    Photographed  for 
this  work  at  the  Columbian  Exposition,  by  permission  of  the  Artist. 


place  to  those  who  have  faced  that  most  national  of  all 
subjects,  when  its  interest  for  posterity  is  kept  in  view,  the 
American  Indian.  Mr.  Brush' s  picture  of  the  ' '  The  Sculptor 
and  the  King"  has  even  gone  back  to  Aztec  days,  with  rare 
union  of  poetic  thought  and  accurate  historic  suggestion, 
and  his    Indian  and  the  Lily,"  also  seen  at  the  Columbian 


Recent  American  Art, 


297 


Exposition,  conveys,  even  by  the  mention  of  its  subject 
alone,  a  suggestion  of  its  poetic  and  yet  faithful  picture  of 
the  so-called  American  savage.  The  names  of  Farny  and 
Remington  are  familiar  to  all  experts  as  other  vivid  por- 
trayers  of  life  on  the  borders  of  civilization;  and  R.  A. 


Fig.  198. — The  Sculptor  and  the  King.  By  George  de  Forest  Brush.  Photographed 
tor  this  work  at  the  Columbian  Exposition,  by  permission  of  the  Artist. 


Blakelock  was  also  among  the  first  to  devote  his  great  tal- 
ents to  these  subjects. 

In  religious  art,  I  noticed  at  the  Columbian  Exposition 
the  powerful  ^'Christ  and  the  Fishermen"  of  Mr.  Du 
Mond,  and  the  noble  and  elevated  paintings  of  La  Farge 
and  of  Poore.  Mr.  Thayer's  ^'Virgin  Enthroned"  has 
already  achieved  the  national  reputation  which  it  deserves. 

In  this  mention  of  individual  names  I  am  well  aware 
how  far  I  am  sinning  by  omissions — and  by  omissions 
among  the  very  greatest  of  our  artists.    One  must  publish 


298  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art. 


an  entire  catalogue  in  order  to  do  justice  to  the  genius 
in  American  art. 

In  the  United  States  the  place  of  the  artist  has  been 
hitherto  one  of  extreme  difficulty  and  hard  struggle.  The 
natural  tendency  of  a  new  country  to  look  up  to  its  older 
predecessors  in  art  and  science  has  led  us  to  ignore  or 
overlook  the  general  equality  and  frequent  superiority  of 
our  artists  to  those  of  the  Old  World,  to  which  equality  or 
superiority  they  have  attained  in  the  last  twenty  years. 
The  art  exhibits  and  sculptured  decorative  work  of  the 


Fig.  199.— Christ  and  the  Fishermen.    By  F.  V.  Du  Mond.    Photographed  for 
this  work  at  the  Columbian  Exposition,  by  permission  of  the  Artist. 

Columbian  Exposition  offered  an  excellent  opportunity  lor 
the  contrast  of  contemporary  American  art  with  that  of 
Europe,  and  in  this  contrast  we  had  no  cause  to  shun 
the  comparison.     Among  living  artists   it  appears  to 


Recent  American  Art, 


299 


me  that  our  own  take  first  rank  for  the  following  reasons: 
In  architectural  sculpture  and  in  open  air  sculpture  the 
modern  world  has  seen  nothing  to  compare  with  the 
statuary  at  Chicago,  and  as  illustrations  of  the  possibilities 
of  sculpture  in  architectural  decoration  there  are  no  build- 
ings of  modern  time  which  could  rival  the  Agricultural 
Building  and  the  Administration  Building  at  the  Columbian 
Exposition.  In  the  application  of  statuary  to  park  or 
landscape  decoration  and  in  its  quality,  the  same  superiority 


Fig,  200.— 'Got  Him."    By  Henry  F.  Farny.     Photographed  for  this  work  at 
the  Columbian  Exposition,  by  permission  of  the  Artist. 


may  be  asserted.  The  lesson  that  a  work  of  art  needs  a 
definite  destination,  a  definite  purpose,  and  a  definite  relation 
to  surroundings  which  demand  it  and  call  it  into  being,  was 
well  taught  us  by  the  Exposition.  No  opportunity  like  it 
had  been  offered  in  modern  history. 

In  the  painting  exhibits  of  the  Art  Palace,  American 


300  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


landscape  was  so  superior  to  that  of  England,  which  made 
an  especially  fine  representative  exhibit,  that  even  compari- 
son was  out  of  question.  To  the  French  exhibit  of  land- 
scape it  was  also  far  superior,  in  which  statement  it  should 
be  remembered  that  the  French  exhibit  was  not  representa- 
tive to  the  same  extent  as  that  of  other  nations. 


Fig.  201.— An  Impromptu  Affair  in  the  Days  of  "The  Code."    By  Frederick 
James.     Photographed  for  this  work  at  the  Columbian 
Exposition,  by  permission  of  the  Artist. 


The  American  loans  of  contemporary  French  pictures 
showed  a  finer  quality  than  the  French  official  display. 
This  is  also  significant  for  American  taste.  Among  the 
living  French  artists  represented  by  American  loans  only 
Monet  and  Raffaelli  could  be  mentioned  as  having  sur- 
passed in  landscape  their  American  competitors.  The 
works  of  Monet  are  extremely  unequal  and  many  of  them 
distinctly  inferior  to  contemporary  American,  some  of 
them  superior  as  works  of  daring  genius  to  anything  that 


Recent  American  Art, 


301 


we  have  yet  produced.  The  average  superiority  of  Ameri- 
can landscape  to  that  of  recent  Germany  and  Italy  is 
incontestable. 

When  we  come  to  ideal  or  suggestive  art  of  the  lofty  and 
ambitious  type,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  placing  Elihu  Ved- 
der  as  first  among  living  moderns.  He  stands  on  surer 
ground  in  his  choice  of  subjects,  as  being  closer  to  average 
popular  apprehension,  than  the  Englishman  George  F. 
Watts.  He  is  more  profound  than  Leighton,  not  less 
suggestive  and  far  more  daring  than  Riviere,  more  prac- 
tical and  matter  of  fact  than  Burne-Jones,  and  there  is 
no  living  Frenchman  who  can  be  named  beside  him  in  his 
peculiar .  field.  Beside  the  name  of  Vedder,  that  of  John 
La  Farge  must  be  mentioned  as  the  worthy  rival  or 
superior  of  any  living  European  artist  of  our  day,  Watts 
alone  excepted,  when  the  capacity  of  a  poet  and  man  of 
thought  working  through  brush  and  pencil  is  in  question. 

In  our  general  estimate  of  recent  American  art,  we  can 
affirm  that  only  one  thing  is  lacking  to  it:  the  appreciative 
support  and  sympathy  of  its  own  nation,  publicly  declared 
by  critics,  and,  above  all,  attested  by  public  patronage — for 
this  is  the  only  test  of  approval  and  the  only  condition  of 
future  existence  and  survival. 

It  would  be  absurd  to  allow  patriotism  to  control  or  sug- 
gest our  preferences  in  art.  No  more  foolish  thing  could 
be  suggested  than  to  patronize  American  art  simply  be- 
cause it  is  American.  There  is  a  better  reason  than 
patriotism  or  national  pride  for  the  appreciation  of  Ameri- 
can art,  which  is  that  it  deserves  appreciation.  But  all 
good  and  genuine  art  presupposes  a  relationship  between 
buyer  and  seller,  a  community  of  interests  and  thoughts. 
This  relationship  and  this  community  are  mainly  dependent 
upon  local  contact,  upon  affinities  of  literature  and  Ian- 


302  Renaissance  and  Modern  Art, 


guage  and  daily  life,  upon  a  common  basis  of  education. 
National  art  is  not  to  be  encouraged  because  it  is  national, 
but  because  no  other  art  can  take  its  place. 

In  recent  American  architecture  the  progress  affirmed 
for  sculpture  and  for  painting  has  been  fully  equaled  and 
perhaps  surpassed. 

It  is  in  decorative  art  that  American  pre-eminence  has 
asserted  itself  in  the  most  distinct  and  emphatic  way.  Out- 


FiG,  202  — The  Fisherman  and  the  Genl     From  "The  Arabian  Nights." 
By  Elihu  Vedder.   Photographed  for  this  work  at  the  Columbian 
Exposition,  by  permission  of  the  Artist  and  Owner. 


side  of  Japan  or  China  there  is  no  such  school  of  ceramic 
decoration  in  modern  art  as  can  be  found  in  the  private 
circles  of  Cincinnati.  I  do  not  speak  of  the  Rookwood 
pottery  alone,  which  has  originally  developed  from  the  style 
and  work  of  a  single  amateur.  Cincinnati  is  full  of  original 
talent  in  this  direction.  In  its  Museum  the  masterpieces  of 
these  amateurs  are  exhibited,  with  their  dates.  The  work  of 
Miss  McLaughlin  is  possibly  better  known  in  Europe  than 


Recent  American  Art. 


303 


it  is  here,  although  her  name  is  a  household  word  with  all 
experts  in  decoration.  The  wood-carvings  of  Cincinnati 
have  also  wide  renown,  especially  as  connected  with  the 
family  name  of  Fry.  In  decorative  needlework  the  New 
York  School  of  Mrs.  Wheeler  (Associated  Artists)  is  dis- 
tinctly superior  to  that  of  South  Kensington  in  London.  In 
stained  glass  the  names  of  John  La  Farge,  of  Crownin- 
shield,  and  of  Louis  Tiffany,  are  of  epoch-making  signifi- 
cance for  all  modern  art.  The  architectural  mosaics  of  the 
latter  are  a  revival  of  the  best  qualities  of  the  Byzantine, 
and  it  is  doubtful  if  they  have  any  rivals  of  importance  in 
modern  Europe. 


FiGr  203.— Delilah.   By  Elihu  Vedder.   Photographed  for  this  work  at  the 
Columbian  Kxposition,  by  permission  of  the  Artist  and  Owner. 


INDEX. 


[A  few  pronunciations  of  foreign  names  have  been  en- 
tered in  the  text.  The  larger  number  will  be  found  in  the 
Index.] 


Adams,  Herbert,  271. 

Allston,  Washington,  39. 

Alberti,  Leon  Battista,  83. 

Alma-Tadema,  287. 

American  Art,  see  below. 

American  Architecture,  104,  105,  252, 
254,  255,  302. 

American  Decorative  Art,  302,  303. 

American  Painting,  early,  39,  242 ;  re- 
cent, 292-303. 

American  Renaissance,  42,  68. 

American  Sculpture,  249,  260-271. 

Amsterdam  Gallery,  188,  190,  191. 

Anatomy  Lesson,  by  Rembrandt,  189. 

Andrea  Pisano  (Pees'ahno),  205. 

Annunciations  of  Different  Centuries 
Compared,  203. 

Arch,  round,  revived  by  Renaissance,  48. 

Architrave,  significance  of,  66. 

Associated  Artists  (of  New  York),  303. 

Aurora,  by  Guido  Reni,  iii,  179. 

Bacchus,  by  Michael  Angelo,  151. 

Baptistery  of  Florence ,  107,  105. 

Baroque  Style,  259. 

Barye,  259. 

Bathing  Soldiers,  cartoon,  138. 

Battle  of  the  Standard,  cartoon,  138. 

Benedetto  da  Majano,  217. 

Bellini,    Giovanni   and    Gentile,  (Bel- 

lee'ny,  Jeeov'ahny,  Jentee'ly)  124. 
Bernini  (Bernee'ny),  234,  238,  239. 
Bitter,  Carl,  269. 
Blakelock,  R.  A.,  297. 
Bologna,  University,  23,  25;  School  of 

Painting,  176. 
Boyle,  John  J.,  269. 


Bramante,  86,  144. 

Brancacci  (Brancatchy)  Chapel,  116, 
119. 

Bronze  Doors,    Pisa    Cathedral,  ^15; 

Florence  Baptistery,  205-215. 
Brouwer,  187. 
Brownstone  Fronts,  42. 
Brozik,  295. 

Brunellesco  (or  Brunelleschi),  72,  76,  77, 
83,  130,  209. 

Brush,  George  de  F.,  296. 

Burckhardt,  Jacob,  58,  119,  130. 

Buonarroti,  see  Michael  Angelo. 

BiuTie-Jones,  288. 

Bush-Brown,  H.  K.,  270. 

Byzantine,  Empire  overthrown,  39;  art 
displaced,  112  ;  Greek  studies  in  Italy, 
243  ;  Mosaic  style  revived,  303. 

Cabots,  the,  22. 

Cain,  Auguste,  260. 

Camera  della  Segnatura  (Senyahtoo'rah), 
143. 

Campo  Santo,  Pisa,  115,  117. 
Campbell,  Douglas,  31,  45,  105,  188. 
Canaletto,  iii. 
Cancellaria  Palace,  94. 
Canova,  249,  257. 

Castiglione,  (Castilyo'ny)  Count,  25. 
Capital,  significance  in  architecture,  66. 
Captives,  by  Michael  Angelo,  152. 
Caracci,  (Caratchy)  the,  179. 
Caravaggio  (Caravajyo),  179. 
Carpaccio  (Carpatchyo),  124,  166. 
Cartoons,  by  Raphael,  143. 
Carpeaux  (Carpo),  259. 
Cellini,  Benvenuto  (Cheliny),  229. 


305 


3o6 


Index. 


Certosa,  Pavia,  76. 

Chase,  Wm.  M.,  295.  ' 

Church  of,  San  Lorenzo,  Florence,  73 : 
San  Spirito,  Florence,  73 ;  Santa  Ma- 
ria della  Pace,  Rome,  88;  St.  Peter's, 
Rome,  88;  St.  Etienne  du  Mont, 
Paris,  102  ;  St.  Paul's,  London,  103. 

Cincinnati,  pottery,  302 ;  wood-carving, 
303- 

Claude  Lorrain,  179,  280,  283. 
Cloth  Merchants,  by  Rembrandt,  191. 
Colleoni,  equestrian  statue,  216. 
Colonial  style,  104,  105,  254. 
Columbian  Exposition,  197,  261-269,  299, 
300. 

Columbus,  22,  40. 

Composite  Order,  64. 

Constable,  279,  280,  283,  291. 

Copernicus,  23. 

Copley,  39,  242. 

Corinthian  Order,  64. 

Corot,  J.  B.  C.  (Coro),  274,  280. 

Cornelius,  272. 

Corporation  pictures,  189. 

Correggio  (Corejyo),    Antonio  Allegri 

da,  36,  139,  159-162. 
Cranach  (Crahnahk),  Lucas,  189. 
Crawford,  162. 
Cremona,  24. 
Cronaca,  85. 
Crowninshield,  303. 
Crystal  Palace  Exposition,  253. 
Cuyp,  187. 

Da  Laurana,  Luciano,  82. 
Da  Majano,  Benedetto,  85. 
Dannecker,  257. 

David,  by  Donatello,  218  ;  by  Verocchio, 

218  ;  by  Michael  Angelo,  151,  227. 
David,  J.  L.  (Dahveed),  272. 
Da  Vinci  (Vinchy)  Leonardo,  23,  36,  40, 

41,  131,  132-139,  159,  282. 
Decadence  of  the  Renaissance,  37. 
*  Decamps,  A.  G.,  274,  281. 

*  There  is  no  exact  way  of  indicating 
in  English  spelling  the  French  nasal 
pronunciation  of  similar  words.    It  can 
be  learned  only  from  a  French  scholar. 
Decorative  Art  Movement,  253. 
Delacroix,  Victor  Eugene  (Delakraw), 

274. 


Desiderio  da  Settignano  (|Settin'nah'- 

no),  217. 
Directory,  style  of,  249. 
Diaz  de  la  Pena,  274. 
Donatello,  201,  215,  216,  218. 
Dolci,  Carlo  (Dolchy),  179,  203. 
Domenichino  (Domenikee'no)  (Domen- 

ico  Zampieri),  179. 
Doric,  Tuscan,  64. 
Dresden  Gallery,  144,  161,  168,  185. 
Du  Mond,  F.  V.,  297. 
Dupre,  Jules  (Doopray),  274. 
Diirer,  Albert  (Dewrer),  184. 
Dutch  Painting,  187-196. 
Dutch  Renaissance,  105. 
Ecce  Homo  (Ekse)  type,  171. 
Eclectics,  176. 
Elgin  Marbles,  257. 
Elwell,  Edwin  F.,  264. 
Engaged  columns,   criticism  of  their 

use,  65. 

England,  tardy  Renaissance,  44,  45. 
English  Painting,  196,  272-291. 
Etty,  291. 

Falgui^re  (Falgyire),  259. 
Farny,  H.  F.,  298. 
Ferrara,  21. 

Florence,  administrative  system,  21 ; 
siege  of,  35,  223  ;  Cathedral,  72  ;  paint- 
ing, 115;  organ  loft  reliefs,  216;  Bap- 
tistery doors,  205-215. 

Fountain,  of  Trevi,  103 ;  of  the  Inno- 
cents, Paris,  230. 

Fra  Angelico  (da  Fiesole)  (Frah  An- 
jayliko  dah  Feea'ysoly),  113,  123. 

Fra  Bartolommeo  (Bartoloma'yo),  138. 

Fra  Giocondo  (Frah  Jeeoc'ondo),  130, 
131. 

French,  Painting,  179,  272-285 ;  Sculp- 
ture, 229,  230,  239,  259.  For  French 
architecture,  see  in  general  all  matter 
for  Renaissance  architecture. 

Frescoes,  Italian,  121-158. 

Fry,  wood-carving,  303. 

Fuller,  George,  296. 

Gainsborough,  39,  240,  277,  295. 

Galileo,  24,  29. 

Galleries.    See   Amsterdam,  Dresden, 

the  Hague. 
Gattamelata,  equestrian  statue,  216. 


Index. 


307 


Gerard,  F.  P.  (Ja'yrar),  272. 

Gericault  (Ja'yreeco),  272. 

German  Art,  183-186. 

Ghiberti,  Lorenzo,  40,  107,  127,  200,  201, 

205-215,  219. 
Ghirlandajo  (Geerlandiyo),  114,  115,  123. 
Gibson,  John,  257. 
Gioconda  portrait,  134. 
Giorgione  (Jorjony),  166. 
Giotto  (Jotto),  115,  205. 
Giovanni  Pisano  (Jeeova'nny  Peesah'no), 

205,  206. 
Gluck's  Operas,  249. 
Goethe,  247. 

Gothic,  Renaissance  prejudice  against, 

44,  55,  250. 
Gothic  Revival,  251. 
Goujon,  Jean,  229. 

Gozzoli,  Benozzo  (Gotso'ly,  Beno'tso), 
114,  115. 

Greek  Revival,  240-249,  256-258. 
Greek  Slave,  by  Hiram  Powers,  261. 
Greuze,  272. 

Grimm's  Life  of  Michael  Angelo,  158, 
228. 

Gros,  A.J,,  (Gro),  272. 
Guardi  (Gooardy),  iii. 
Guercino   (Gooertschee'no)  (Francesco 

Barbieri),  179. 
Guido  Reni  (Gweedo  Rayny),  179. 
Hague,  the,  190. 
Hals,  Franz,  187. 
Heidelberg  Castle,  106. 
Hogarth,  242. 

Holbein,  Hans  the  Younger,  184. 
Homer,  Winslow,  286. 
Hoogh,  Peter,  187. 
Immaculate  Conception  type,  177. 
Industrial  art,  Figs,  i,  2,  and  4-9  inclu- 
sive. 

Innspruch,  Maximilian  monument,  230. 
Ionic  Order,  64. 

Italian  Gothic  architecture,  44,  75,  253. 

James,  Frederick,  297. 

JuHus  II.,  Pope,  140. 

Kaulbach  (Kowlbakh),  147,  272. 

Kemeys,  Edward,  270. 

Kiss,  258. 

Kneller,  Godfrey,  181. 
Krafft,  Adam,  230. 


Lace,  an  Italian  manufacture,  24. 

La  Farge,  John,  297,  301,  303. 

Landscape  art,  origin,  178. 

Landseer,  290. 

Laocoon  Essay,  232,  247. 

Last  Judgment,  by  Michael  Angelo,  36, 

41,  150-158,  200,  204. 
Last  Supper,  by  Da  Vinci,  40,  41,  112, 

115,  118,  130-137. 
Latin  Studies  of  the  Renaissance,  57. 
Lawrence,  242. 

Leighton,  Sir  Frederick,  260,  287. 
Lely,  Sir  Peter,  181. 
Leo  X.,  Pope,  140,  226. 
Leonardo,  see  Da  Vinci. 
Lessing,  232,  247. 
Ley  den,  104. 

Lincoln,  statue  by  Rogers,  262 ;  by  St. 

Gaudens,  270. 
Lippi,  Filippino  (Filipee'no  Lippy),  116. 
Literary  culture  of  Renaissance,  58. 
Low  tone  in  painting,  281,  283. 
Luini  (Looee'ny),  138. 
Macaulay,  as  critic,  245. 
MacMonnies,  Frederick,  270. 
Madonna,  types  and  paintings,  114,  120, 

125,  177,  185,  203. 
Makart,  Hans,  272. 
Mantegna  (Mante'nyah).  124. 
Manufactures  of  Renaissance  Italy,  22. 
Martiny,  P.,  269. 

Masaccio  (Masatchyo),    115,   116,  120, 
208. 

Masolino  (Masolee'no),  119,  120. 

Matsys,  Quentin,  186. 

Maximilian,  tomb  of,  232. 

Meier  Madonna,  185. 

Metal  work,  Figs.  2,  6,  7,  9. 

Medieval,  architecture  contrasted  with 

Renaissance,  51  ;  culture  opposed  by 

the  Renaissaance,  56. 
Medici  (Ma'yditchy),  Lorenzo,  60  ;  tombs 

of,  225. 
Metsu,  187. 

Michael  Angelo,  36,  73,  89  123,  139,  141, 

150-159,  162,  222-228,  234 
Michel,  C.  H.  (Meeshel),  274. 
Michelozzo  (Mikel'otso),  130. 
Milan,  history  of,  33. 
Millet,  J.  F.  (Meelay),  274,  280,  285. 


3o8 


Index, 


Mino  da  Fiesole  (Meeno  dah  Feeay- 

soly;,  79,  203,  217. 
Mona  Lisa,  see  Gioconda. 
Monet  (Monay),  301. 
Monticelli  (Montichelly),  274, 291. 
Moore,  Albert,  288. 
Morelli,  Giovanni,  123. 
Morland,  George,  242,  277. 
Moses,  by  Michael  Angelo,  152,  222,  223. 
Muntz,  Eugene,  149. 
Murcia,  cathedral,  102. 
Murillo  (Moorilyo),  170-174. 
Naples,  School  of,  176. 
Naturalists,  School  of,  176. 
Netscher,  187. 

Nicolo  of  Pisa  (Peesah),  205. 
Night  Watch,  by  Rembrandt,  191. 
Nuremberg,  230. 

Oil  Painting,  introduction  in  Italy,  121. 

Orders,  the,  in  Renaissance  architec- 
ture, 64,  69,  95,  96. 

Padua,  University  24,  60 ;  School  of, 
124  ;  statue  of  Gattamelata,  216. 

Passavant,  historian  of  Raphael,  149. 

Paestum,  temples  of,  68. 

Palaces,  Pitti,  24,  83 ;  Rucellai,  83 ;  Ric- 
cardi,  85 ;  Strozzi,  85 ;  Cancellaria, 
86  ;  Urbino,  87,  140 ;  Massimi,  92  ; 
Pandolfini,  93  ;  Bartolini,  93  ;  Poli,  103. 

Palmer,  the  sculptor,  262. 

Palladio,  95. 

Palma  Vecchio  (Vekyo),  166-169. 

Paris  Bordone  (Bordony),  166-169. 

Paul  Veronese  (Paulo  Cagliari),  166-169. 

Partridge,  Wm.  Ordway,  264.. 

Pavia,  Certosa,  76. 

Peale,  Rembrandt,  39. 

Pediments,  79. 

Perugino  (Peroojee'no),  123,  145,  146. 

Philhellenic  movement,  248. 

Pieta,  by  Michael  Angelo,  151. 

Pilon,  Germam,  229. 

Piloty,  272. 

Pitti  Palace,  24,  83. 

Plutarch,  influence  on  Greek  Revival, 
249. 

Pollajuolo  (Polaiuo'lo),  220. 
Poore,  H.  R.,  298. 
Potter,  Paul,  187. 
Potter,  E.  C,  267. 


Poussin,  Nicholas,  179. 

Powers,  Hiram,  261. 

Poynter,  E.  J.,  288. 

Proctor,  A.  P.,  270. 

Prometheus,  by  Adam,  233. 

Protestantism,  influence  on  painting,  t88. 

Puget  (Pewjay),  237. 

Queen  Anne  Style,  105,  254. 

Rauch  (Rowckh),  258. 

Raphael,  36,  41,  123,  127,  I39-I49>  I59. 

163,  249. 
Raffaelli,  301. 

Rembrandt  Van  Ryn,  170,  187,  281. 

Remington,  F.,  298. 

Renaissance,  see  chapter  headings. 

Revivals,  Greek,  240-250 ;  Gothic,  251- 
254  ;  Romanesque,  252  ;  Italian  Gothic, 
253  ;  Queen  Anne,  254  ;  Colonial,  254. 

Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  39,  242,  277. 

Ribera  (Reeba'yrah),  175. 

Ribot  (Reebo),  281. 

Richardson,  H.  H.,  84. 

Riviere,  Briton,  289. 

Robbia  (Ro'beeah),  Andrea  della,  202, 203. 
Robbia,  Luca  della  (Loo'kah),  200,  202, 

216,  217. 
Rodin,  259. 

Roman  ruins  as  models  of  Renaissance, 
49,  50. 

Rome,  recent  history,  34 ;  Sack  of,  35. 

Rookwood  pottery,  302. 

Romney,  242. 

Rosa,  Salvator,  179. 

Rogers,  John,  262. 

Rousseau,  P.  E.  T.,  274,  277,  283. 

Rubens,  Peter  Paul,  170-176,  186. 

Ruisdael,  Jacob,  187. 

Rustica  Masonry,  84. 

Ryder,  Albert,  281. 

Sardinia,  Kingdom  of,  33. 

Sargent,  John  S.,  295. 

Sassoferrato,  179. 

Schiller,  247. 

Sculpture,  Renaissance,  196-230. 

Sforza,  Ludovico,  40. 

Sicily,  recent  history,  35. 

Sistine  Chapel,  40,  112,  115,  150-158. 

Sistine  Madonna,  144,  178,  214. 

Sixtus  IV.,  Pope,  151, 

Slave  Ship,  by  Turner,  291. 


Index. 


309 


South  Kensington,  143,  303. 

Spanish  Painting,  170. 

Squarcione  (Squartcho'ny),  60. 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  London,  103. 

St.  Peter's  Church,  Rome,  76  ;  the  dome, 

72,  73»  130,  152- 
St.  Gaudens,  Augustus,  264. 
St.  Sebastian  type,  127. 
States  of  the  Church,  recent  history,  35. 
Steen,  Jan,  187. 

Stuart,  Charles  Gilbert,  39,  242. 
Swan,  John  M.,  288. 
Taft,  Lorado,  269. 
Teniers,  David  the  Younger,  195. 
Terburg,  187,  292. 
Thayer,  A.  H.,  298. 
Thorwaldsen,  249,  257,  271. 
Thompson,  Launt,  262. 
Thompson,  Wordsworth,  296. 
Thornycroft,  Hamo,  260. 
Tiepoli  (Teeaypoly)  the,  iii. 
Tiffany,  Louis,  303. 
Timoteo  della  Vite,  123. 
Tintoretto  (Jacopo  Robusti),  166-169. 
Titian,  139,  166-169. 
Torricelli,  24. 

Tombs  of  the  Medici,  222-226 ;  tomb  of 

Julius  IL,  151. 
Transfiguration,  by  Raphael,  144,  214. 
Troyon,  274. 

Turner,  J.  M.  W.,  277,  290. 
Tuscany,  recent  history,  34. 
Tuscan  Order,  92. 

The  following  definitions  of 
text  may  be  useful  to  readers 
subject  treated: 

Buttress  :  A  masonry  abutment 
strengthening  a  wall  and  placed  at 
right  angles  to  its  surface. 

Capital:  The  decorative  head  of  a 
column  or  pier. 

Cornice  :  Originally,  in  Greek  architec- 
ture, a  decorative  roof  line  in  stone,  or 
the  continuation  of  this  roof  line  under 
the  pediment.  As  copied,  together 
with  the  entablature,  by  the  Romans, 
this  cornice  frequently  appears  with- 
out relation  to  a  roof  line. 


Urbino,  palace,  82. 
Van  Dyck,  170-176. 
Van  Eycks,  121. 
Van  Goyen,  187. 

Van  Mieris,  Franz  and  William,  187. 

Van  Ostade,  Adrian,  187. 

Vasari,  Lives,  41,  119,  131,  149,  158,  227. 

Vatican,  frescoes,  40,  112,  142-149;  li- 
brary, 140. 

Vedder,  Elihu,  301. 

Velasquez,  170-174,  295. 

Venice,  administrative  system,  21 ;  re- 
cent history,  34  ;  School  of,  124,  162  ; 
statue  of  Colleoni,  216. 

Verocchio  (Vero'kyo),  123,  215,  216, 
218,  220. 

Versailles  Cathedral,  102. 

Victor  Emmanuel,  33. 

Vicenza,  95. 

Vignola  (Vinyolah),  96. 

Villafranca,  peace  of,  33. 

Vitruvius,  94. 

Vischer,  Peter,  230. 

Voltaire,  as  critic,  245.  ^ 

Ward,  J.  Q.  A.,  262. 

Warner,  Olin,  264. 

Watts,  George  F.,  288. 

Wheeler,  Mrs.  Candace,  303. 

Wilson,  240. 

Winckelmann,  John,  244,  247. 
Wilkie,  287. 

Woodcuts,  German,  184,  185. 

technical  terms  used  in  the 
previously  unfamiliar  with  the 

Engaged  Column  :  A  column  attached 
to  a  wall  surface  and  used  simply  for 
decoration,  not  for  support. 

Entablature  :  The  double  lintel,  with 
cornice,  originally  used  in  Greek  arch- 
itecture, thence  copied  by  the  Romans, 
and  revived  by  the  Italian  Renaissance 
from  the  Roman  use. 

Fresco  :  A  painting  on  fresh  or  wet 
plister,  a  term  applied  to  wall-paint- 
ings in  general. 

Impost  :   A  cube-shaped  member  oc- 


Index, 


casionally  placed  over  the  capital  of  a 
column  which  supports  an  arch,  in  or- 
der to  enlarge  the  supporting  surface. 
Order  :  This  word  is  used  tradition- 
ally and  technically  to  specify  {a)  the 
Greek  columnar  style  of  architecture 
with  its  entablature,  {b)  any  one  of  the 
different  styles  in  which  the  Greek 
columns  and  entablature  appear. 


Pediment  :  (a)  the  gable  of  a  Greek 
temple,  {b)  the  ornamental  copy  ot 
such  a  gable  form,  {c)  the  ornamental 
curved  variant  of  the  gable  form.  See 
Fig.  20. 

Pier  :  An  architectural  support  con- 
structed of  aggregated  masonry,  not 
limited  as  to  shape,  whereas  a  column 
is  always  round. 


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books. 

UNCLE  TOM'S  CABIN— By  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe. 

A  new  edition,  printed  from  entirely  new  plates,  on  fine  laid  paper 
of  extra  quality,  with  half-tone  illustrations  by  Louis  Betts. 

PILGRIM'S  PROGRESS— By  John  Bunyan. 

A  new  edition  of  Bunyan's  immortal  allegory,  printed  from  new 
plates  on  fine  laid  paper,  with  illustrations  by  H.  M.  Brock. 

THE  WIDE,  WIDE  WORLD— By  Susan  Warner. 

Printed  from  entirely  new  plates,  on  fine  laid  paper  of  superior 
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THE  LITTLE  MINISTER  (Maude  Adams  Edition) 
—By  J.  M.  Barrie. 

Printed  on  fine  laid  paper,  large  i2mo  in  size,  with  new  cover  de- 
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PROSE  TALES —By  Edgar  Allan  Poe. 

A  large  i2mo  volume,  bound  in  cloth,  with  decorative  cover. 
Containing  eleven  striking  drawings  by  Alice  B.  Woodward,  a  biog- 
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ISHMAEL         >  By  Mrs.  E.  D.  E.  N.  Southworth. 

SELF-RAISED     f  The  two  vols,  in  a  flat  box,  or  boxed  separately 
Handsome  new  editions  of  these  two  old  favorites,  with  illustrations 
bv  Clare  Angell 

THE  FIRST  VIOLIN— By  Jessie  Fothergill. 

A  fine  edition  of  this  popular  musical  novel,  with  illustrations  by 
Clare  Angell. 

EACH  VOLUME  IN  A  BOX.     PRICE  ONE  DOLLAR  EACH 


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and  the  Solace  of  Books 


COMPILED  BY  JOSEPH  SHALER  WITH 
AN  INTRODUCTION  BY  ANDREW  LANG 

A  volume  that  will  appeal  to  every  book  lover,  pre- 
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Mrs.  Jerningham's  Journal 
John  Jerningham's  Journal 

The  re-publication  of  this  exquisite  love  story  in  verse 
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Price,  $1,^0  per  set,  postpaid. 


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Rubaiyat    of   Omar  Khayyam 


Rendered  into  English  verse  by  Edward  Fitzgerald.  A 
correct  version  of  the  text  of  the  Fourth  Edition,  with 
accurate  notes,  a  biography  of  both  Omar  and  Fitzger- 
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with  a  remarkable  descriptive  and  comparative  article  by 
Edward  S.  Holden.  Beautifully  printed  in  two  colors  on 
deckel  edge  paper,  with  decorative  borders,  fourteen 
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same  matter  as  the  foregoing  volume.  Price,  50c. 
THE  SAMEy  small  i  zmo  in  size,  exquisitely  bound  in 
Red  English  Roan,  with  gilt  tops.  Each  volume  in  a  box. 
Price,  ^i.oo. 

THE  SAMEy  in  booklet  form,  24  pages,  printed  in  two 
colors,  the  complete  text  of  the  fourth  edition.   Price,  i  5c. 

KIPLING'S  POEMSy  BARRACK  ROOM 
BALL  ADS  y  DEPARTMENTAL  DITTIES  y  ETC. 

Two  volumes  in  one,  with  glossary.  Fourteen  full-page 
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NEW   EDITIONS   IN    UNIFORM  BINDING 


WORKS  OF 

F.  Marion  Crawford 

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VIA  CRUCIS  :  A  Romance  of  the  Second  Crusade. 
Illustrated  by  Louis  Loeb. 
Mr.  Crawford  has  manifestly  brought  his  best  qualities 
OS  a  student  of  history,  and  his  finest  resources  as  a  master 
af  an  original  and  picturesque  style,  to  bear  upon  this  story. 

MR.  ISAACS:  A  Tale  of  Modern  India. 

Under  an  unpretentious  title  we  have  here  one  of  the 
most  brilliant  novels  that  has  been  given  to  the  world. 

THE  HEART  OF  ROME. 

The  legend  of  a  buried  treasure  under  the  walls  of  the 
palace  of  Conti,  known  to  but  few,  provides  the  frame- 
work for  many  exciting  incidents. 

SARACINESCA 

A  graphic  picture  of  Roman  society  in  the  last  days  of 
the  Pope's  temporal  power. 

SANT'  ILARIO  ;  A  Sequel  to  Saracinesca. 

A  singularly  powerful  and  beautiful  story,  fulfilling  every 
requirement  of  artistic  fiction. 

IN  THE  PALACE  OF  THE  KING  :  A  Love  Story 
of  Old  Madrid.  Illustrated. 
The  imaginative  richness,  the  marvellous  ingenuity  of 
plot,  and  the  charm  of  romantic  environment,  rank  this 
novel  among  the  great  creations. 


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Books  that  make  the  nerves  tingle — romance  and  ad- 
venture of  the  best  type — wholesome  for  family  reading 


THE  PILLAR  OF  LIGHT 

Breathless  interest  is  a  hackneyed  phrase,  but  every 
reader  of  *  The  Pillar  of  Light  '  who  has  red  blood  in 
his  or  her  veins,  will  agree  that  the  trite  saying  applies  to 
the  attention  which  this  story  commands.  —  New  Tor k  Sun, 

THE  WINGS  OF  THE  MORNING 

Here  is  a  story  filled  with  the  swing  of  adventure. 
There  are  no  dragging  intervals  in  this  volume  :  from  the 
moment  of  their  landing  on  the  island  until  the  rescuing 
crew  find  them  there,  there  is  not  a  dull  moment  for  the 
young  people — nor  for  the  reader  either." — New  York 
Times, 

THE  KING  OF  DIAMONDS 

Verily,  Mr.  Tracy  is  a  prince  of  story-tellers.  His 
charm  is  a  little  hard  to  describe,  but  it  is  as  definite  as 
that  of  a  rainbow.  The  reader  is  carried  along  by  the 
robust  imagination  of  the  author. — San  Francisco  Exam- 
iner. 


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BOOKS  ON  ART 

POFULAR,  AVTHORITATIVE,  INEXPENSIVE 


RENAISSANCE  AND  MODERN  ART.    By  W. 
H.  Goodyear,  M.  A.,  Curator  of  Fine  Arts  in  the 
Museum  of  the  Brooklyn  Institute.     Profusely  illus- 
trated.    I  2mo,  cloth. 
This  volume  aims  to  present  in  a  popular  and  non- 
technical form  a  history  of  the  various  periods  of  art  from 
the  time  of  the  Renaissance  to  the  present  day.  Two 
hundred  and  three  reproductions  of  paintings  and  sculp- 
ture add  to  the  interest  of  the  work. 

ROMAN  AND  MEDIEVAL  ART.    By  W.  H. 
Goodyear,  M.A.     New  edition,  revised  and  en- 
larged.    Profusely  illustrated.     i  2mo,  cloth. 
The  epochs  treated  in  this  work,  those  of  the  Romans 
and  of  the  Middle  Ages,  make  this  work  not  so  much  a 
history  of  the  arts  as  a  history  of  the  civilization  of  the 
period.     One  hundred  and  ninety-six  reproductions  illus- 
trate the  text. 

A  HISTORY  OF  GREEK  ART.     With  an  Intro- 
ductory Chapter  on  Art  in  Egypt  and  Mesopotamia. 
By  Prof.  T.  B.  Tarbell,  of  the  University  of 
Chicago.    Profusely  illustrated,     izmo,  cloth. 
This  book  has  been  written  in  the  conviction  that  the 
greatest  of  all  motives  for  studying  art,  the  motive  which 
is  and  ought  to  be  the  strongest  in  most  people,  is  the 
desire  to  become  acquainted  with  beautiful  and  noble 
things,  the  things  that      soothe  the  cares  and  lift  the 
thoughts  of  man."    Illustrated  with  one  hundred  and 
ninety-six  reproductions. 

Price  per  copy^  75  cents ^  postpaid. 


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